Reaching Victims July Newsletter
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Just Ask: A Toolkit to Help Advocates, Attorneys, and Law Enforcement Meet the Needs of Crime Victims with Disabilities
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People with disabilities and Deaf people experience violent crime at three times the rate of people without disabilities, yet healing services and the legal system are often not accessible to them. There are a number of steps agencies can take to make their services more accessible and welcoming for survivors with disabilities and Deaf victims, including asking every victim if they need accommodations to participate in services or the legal system.
Just Ask: A Toolkit to Help Advocates, Attorneys, and Law Enforcement Meet the Needs of Crime Victims with Disabilities
was created by the Center on Victimization at the Vera Institute of Justice in response to conversations with professionals working with survivors, many of whom are open to asking about accommodations, but don’t know how and are worried about saying the wrong thing.
The toolkit lays out four simple steps for providing accommodations to survivors with disabilities, and includes sample language you can use when talking to survivors. It also outlines what your agency needs to have in place for staff to be able to provide accommodations as soon as survivors request them. Just Ask is comprised of three audience-specific toolkits:
Advocate Toolkit
;
Attorney and Prosecutor Toolkit
; and
Law Enforcement Toolkit
.
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Each toolkit includes a palm card, a quick reference guide, an agency readiness guide, a tip sheet, a poster, and a
demonstration video
. Download your
toolkit
today!
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Attorney and Prosecutor Palm Card
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Law Enforcement Palm Card
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Paths to Healing in the Deaf Community
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Deaf Unity,
a Wisconsin-based Deaf domestic and sexual violence service provider, received a
Reaching Victims Innovations Mini-Grant
in 2019. Through their
Paths to Healing in the Deaf Community
video project, they created a series of videos where Deaf survivors share their experiences, the impact of their traumatic event(s), and their paths to healing. The series also includes videos on how to recognize symptoms of stress and trauma, when to implement self-care techniques or to seek help, examples of self-care techniques, and how to create a plan for healing. The video series was designed by, and for, the Deaf community.
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The
Anti-Ableist Glossary of Disability Terms
, created by National Resource Center consultant Dr. Sara M. Acevedo, uses a Disability Justice framework to define terms in English and Spanish related to disability and accessibility for people with disabilities. This glossary serves three main purposes:
- Provides a practical instrument that will guarantee the quality of the services provided and satisfy the needs of Spanish-speaking people with disabilities who have survived various types of violence.
- Develops a language guide that primarily serves as a tool to raise social awareness regarding systematic discrimination against disabled persons and their related identities.
- Transforms ableist beliefs and attitudes (and their links to other forms of discrimination), which are reflected in the common use of language and everyday communicative situations.
Download your
glossary,
available in both Spanish and English, today!
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Are you looking for additional resources on serving crime victims with disabilities and/or Deaf crime victims? Explore these additional resources.
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Still looking for more information? Please visit the
Resource Library
on the Reaching Victims website. You can search by community, audience, and resource format (report, webinar, tip sheet, etc.). For COVID-19 specific resources, please visit our
COVID-19 Resource Section
.
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Would you like training or technical assistance on serving survivors with disabilities or Deaf survivors?
We can help
.
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UPCOMING EVENTS: Virtual Trainings
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July 30
Empowering Indigenous Women and Communities Through Self-Defense
Reaching Victims Innovations Mini-Grant Recipient
2:00 - 3:30 PM ET
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August 4
The Way Forward: Emerging Strategies for Crime Victims of Color Series
Shaping the Future of Healing Justice
2:00 - 3:30 PM ET
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August 20
Increasing Access to Healing Services and Just Outcomes for Older African American Crime Survivors
A Virtual Introduction to the Increasing Access Toolkit
2:30 - 4:00 PM ET
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We use Zoom as our virtual engagement platform. A
ll of our virtual events include live American Sign Language interpretation. We will record the session and post the recording to our website at
reachingvictims.org
. The recorded session will include American Sign Language interpretation and closed captions. If you would like live captions or any other accommodation to participate, please request them when you register.
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The National Resource Center for Reaching Victims, a national collaboration funded by the Office for Victims of Crime at the U.S. Department of Justice, is a one-stop shop for victim service providers, culturally specific organizations, justice system professionals, and policymakers to get information and expert guidance to enhance their capacity to identify, reach, and serve all victims, especially those from communities that are underrepresented in healing services and avenues to justice. For more information, visit
reachingvictims.org
.
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Together, we are working to increase the number of victims who receive the support they need to help them heal.
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