There are stereotypes that humans associate with certain physical characteristics and these can greatly affect a first impression. Scientists tell us that we start to form impressions of a person after seeing their face for less than one-tenth of a second, in which time we decide whether or not the person is attractive, trustworthy, competent, extroverted or dominant.
For example, individuals who are more attractive and put-together are often considered more competent and rounder, more feminine characteristics make a face appear to be more trustworthy. First impressions based on faces and looks are inherently flawed because they’re based on biases, values and stereotypes we are exposed to or immersed in over time.
This often leads to people making hasty judgements that may have little to do with who that person really is and amounts to lack of respect for people’s life experiences, complexity and dignity. This makes any kind of categorisation and labelling according to one aspect of our identity absurd, abusive and even violent.
Intersectionality is defined in the literature as “different aspects of a person’s identity that can expose [that person] to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation”. These aspects can include gender, class, ethnicity and cultural background, religion, disability and sexual orientation. It is critical that family violence service providers and agencies adopt an intersectional approach.
In the context of family violence, this means that services need to identify how the factors noted above can be associated with different sources of oppression and discrimination and how those intersections can lead to increased risk, severity and frequency of experiencing different forms of violence.
The intersection between disability and gender-based violence is of particular concern because some forms of violence against women with disabilities have remained invisible and have not been recognised as gender-based violence due to disability discrimination.
Worldwide, women with disabilities experience much higher levels of physical, sexual and psychological violence for longer periods of time and with worse physical and mental outcome as a consequence of violence than women without disabilities.
In Europe, one in five women will or has already experienced domestic violence. For women with disabilities this figure doubles, be it at the hands of their partners, family or carers. Women with disabilities’ experiences of domestic violence follows the traditional definition of the term such as physical abuse, verbal abuse and sexual abuse.
We start to form impressions of a person after seeing their face for less than one-tenth of a second- Audrey Friggieri
Acts of serious discrimination and violence are often seen and presented as originating from a place of ‘good intentions’. These may include infantalisation, neglect, overdosing or withholding medication, stealing money, immobilisation, financial abuse and denying necessary equipment or care.
Studies show that the main factors for the additional vulnerability of women and girls with disabilities are patriarchal attitudes, powerlessness and difficulty in access to services.
For women with disabilities, gender-based violence is often compounded by disability-based discrimination. Unfortunately, too many existing programmes meant to prevent gender-based violence do not take into account the unique dangers and challenges faced by women with disabilities. This has to change.
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) distinguishes between two forms of violence: direct violence, which includes physical, psychological and economic violence perpetrated by individuals and often condoned or even justified by society, and indirect violence, which represents a type of structural violence characterised by the norms, attitudes and stereotypes around gender that operate within a larger societal context. Indirect violence creates and perpetuates attitudes and stereotypes that normalise violence, especially against women.
An important factor that prevents women and men with disabilities from fully taking part in society is ‘ableism’ – discrimination against a person because they have a disability. This includes the attitude that disability is ‘negative and tragic’ and that ‘overcoming’ disability is the only valued outcome.
Living with disability increases the barriers to education and to the risk of poverty for both men and women, but women especially. Low participation in the labour market, low work intensity and discrimination are the main factors that lead to a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion for persons with disabilities compared to the rest of the population.
Sometimes, we forget that women and men with disabilities may also have the role of carers, daily taking care of someone else, such as children, older people or other adults with disabilities. Persons with disabilities also make contributions to society in their various capacities.