Victims Overseas With Disabilities Additional Barriers

• Victims with disabilities face extreme isolation resulting in limited resources and lack of information about personal relationships and opportunity to disclose if abuse occurs.
• In many places the survivor may be viewed as lacking social credibility, making it difficult to report or disclose abuse. This is especially true for survivors with disabilities in foreign countries. Around the world persons with disabilities are often viewed as second class citizens.
• Women and girls with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to abuse in some countries.
• Survivors with disabilities may rely on others to meet basic needs making them especially vulnerable to abusive power and control dynamics.
• The use of multiple caregivers increases opportunities for abuse.
• Shelters may not be physically accessible and other resources are often not equipped to adequately serve survivors with physical, mental, or cognitive disabilities.
• Transportation to a shelter, airport, or other “danger to safety” location can pose challenges for a survivor with disabilities.
• Making arrangements for a service animal whom the survivor depends can also create barriers to safety.
• Their abuser may have convinced them that no one else will ever love them because of their disability.
• Survivors with disabilities may have fear of being institutionalized or losing custody of their children since people with disabilities are often stereotyped as inadequate parents.