The Deaf Action Initiative is a three-year OVW-funded training and technical assistance project designed to increase the capacity of Deaf organizations to address domestic violence, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and/or stalking in Deaf communities in the United States. The following agencies participated:
Deaf and Hard of Hearing folks in Indiana remain under-served by the vast majority of intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence (SV) intervention and primary prevention initiatives across the nation. Under the leadership of Holly Elkins, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Outreach Coordinator, the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV) provides training and technical assistance to IPV/SV programs in the state to increase cultural competency and accessibility across the Coalition’s member programs.
Visit the ICADV webpage to read more about the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program and be sure to watch and share the 5 ASL videos for survivors. The videos were made with the deliberate intention to be easily accessible and viewable for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people.
NPR provides 8 in-depth stories about sexual violence and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including interviews with people who have been harmed by sexual violence and their family. This series is available as a podcast as well as transcripts.
What do we mean when we say consent? Do we mean empowered decision making, a legal exchange, or what? Here are a few ways to look at it. Find the entire discussion about consent in the 2018 webinar series, webinar #2.
Autonomy/Agency (empowerment)
Self-determination; i.e., my decisions impact what happens to me and the world around me;
Possible for everyone through supported decision making;
Power is located within the individual and executed through the individual’s decisions;
Power is shared in the mutuality of equitable sexual decision making.
(Legal) Consent
Requires competency and capacity in sexual decision making
Legal and medical systems interact to enact decision making power (system over individual)
Comprehensive culturally affirming sexual health education not required in every state, but competency is always required for legal sexual consent
Culturally Affirming Healthy Sexuality Resources
Pre-screen individuals using trauma-informed processes as a sexual consent tool can trigger trauma-related memories. Healthy sexuality classes are part of comprehensive violence prevention efforts that include organizational assessments and policy changes as necessary to support health and wellness for all people.
Elevatus Training (formerly Disability Workshops) offers training for staff, parents, people with developmental or intellectual disabilities on sexual health. Elevatus offers “Trauma Informed curriculum, online training and in-service/live workshops to help staff, educators, direct support pros, self-advocates and parents confidently navigate the topic of sexuality.”
Taking an umbrella into a hurricane: why consent education should be step two in our work to eliminate sexual violence by the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence Prevention Team
‘‘Remember Our Voices are Our Tools: Sexual Self-advocacy as Defined by People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Sex Disability” (2014) 32:515–532
