This special information packet by CALCASA provides an overview of ableism, legal rights, and prevalence of sexual violence of people with disabilities. Not only does the tool provide suggestions for outreach and engagement, it provides a comprehensive list of physical accessibility improvement suggestions and list of disabilities with definitions and disability support agencies in California. The packet includes primary prevention strategies, including suggestions to increasing community inclusion for people with disabilities.
Sexual Abuse of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: Analysis and Recommendations for Ohio
“Sexual Abuse of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities: Analysis and Recommendations for Ohio” was published in 2015 by Disability Rights Ohio. This document examines contributing factors for sexual violence (isolation, for example), support services, and gaps in the criminal justice system for people with disabilities. The free download contains examples and recommendations for improvements to support systems for people with disabilities and is recommended reading to understand the depth and breadth of the problem of sexual violence for people with disabilities.
Utah Keynote: Kesley Cowley’s Keynote on SV Prevention with People with Cognitive & Developmental Disabilities
Kelsey starts the conversation about sexual violence prevention, Utah Keynote Presenter: Kelsey Cowley, Vice President Self-Advocates of Indiana Keynote Conference keynote: Disability Seminar, Salt Lake City, Utah, Date: May 17, 2019
Kelsey Cowley is the author of the Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC) toolkit “Starting the Conversation: Addressing Sexual Violence within the Disability Community through Advocacy, Education, and System Change” and she was invited to be the keynote speaker for a disability seminar in Salt Lake City, Utah. The organizers reached out to Kelsey after hearing about her internship with SARTAC in Michelle Fischer’s podcast “A View into Kelsey Cowley’s Fellowship on Sexual Abuse, Violence, and Prevention” (click to listen/watch the episode.) Kelsey is an activist survivor of childhood sexual violence and is passionate about working to gain equal rights for people with disabilities and to end sexual violence for people with disabilities.
Kelsey’s work offers inclusion to the field of violence prevention and intervention, which has largely been shaped by programs and services for neurotypical “able-bodied” people. The toolkit Kelsey worked for over a year on offers culturally competent sexual violence resources that are for AND BY people with disabilities. “Starting the Conversation” expands the availability of data currently available related to risk and protective factors for sexual violence perpetration and victimization for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. One additional new direction offered to the field of sexual violence prevention is Kelsey’s focus in solutions on community level change by offering ideas about how to advocate for systems change at the local and state levels.
Credit
Post written by Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams, Prevention Specialist at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Kelsey Cowley, Disability Consultant, at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Sexual Violence Toolkit by Self-Advocate
Kelsey Cowley (ICADV Disability Consultant) has written and had published a toolkit for self-advocates who want to learn how to prevent sexual violence in their communities. The toolkit called “Starting the Conversation: Addressing Sexual Violence within the Disability Community through Advocacy, Education, and System Change” was recently published by a national agency called Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center (SARTAC). This toolkit is so exciting for our field because this is what SVPP (sexual violence primary prevention) can look like when we move beyond consent to consider power.
Post written by Cierra Olivia Thomas Williams, Prevention Specialist at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence