Radio Orange 94.0 broadcast a podcast Stop with Violence against Women of Women against Violence European Network (WAVE) within 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign. Ivana Zelic, a coordinator of the SOS service of the Organization …IZ KRUGA -VOJVODINA participated in it. The show is about sexual and online violence, violence against women with disabilities, femicide and youth activism.
In her introductory speech, Ivana Zelic presented the activities of the Organization …IZ KRUGA – VOJVODINA, spoke about the specificity of violence against women with disabilities and ways of providing support to break the circle of violence.
The podcast has three episodes aired on November 28th, December 2nd and 5th, 2021. on the Austrian Radio Orange 94.0.
– Women with disabilities are exposed to all types of violence as women without disabilities (psychological, sexual, economic), but the violence they suffer most often stays hidden and unrecognized. In addition to all types of violence, they are at greater risk of negligence and isolation. They are often denied medicines, aids, visits to the doctor, information, and means of communication in accessible formats. Women with disabilities often face isolation (they cannot leave the house without help, have no accessible transport or institutions) which makes them stay at home, more often alone or with a violent partner or family member. Women with a hearing impairment cannot report violence using phones, women with visual impairment have no accessible information in audio format, women with physical disabilities face architectural barriers that prevent them from going to health institutions, police stations, social welfare centers, or judiciary buildings. It is important to emphasize that women with disabilities, next to domestic violence, suffer violence from medical workers, personal assistants and persons working in the institutions. Women with disabilities that live in Residential Care Institutions are particularly disadvantaged. Somebody else decides about their lives, they cannot leave the premises without permission, have partners, they have no information about their health, the therapy administered, contraception and other relevant things. To support women with disabilities, initially, it is significant that we trust them when they speak up about violence and that we provide them with appropriate support and protection. We need to show them understanding without judging, not make decisions for them or do things they are not ready for, like encourage them to report violence because it can lead to higher risk and new violence – said Ivana Zelic.
Ivana Zelic from the 13:25 to the 18:52
