The Southern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault is engaged in a new and exciting endeavor to increase services to people with disabilities, called Accessing Safety. Part of the Community Education and Outreach Program, the Center Against Sexual Assault's newest program is the result of a substantial, competitive federal sub-grant from the Department of Justice/Office for Victims of Crime (OVC). Out of about 100 submitted proposals, the Center Against Sexual Assault's was one of ten awarded through SafePlace, a sexual assault and domestic violence center in Austin, TX.

Accessing Safety was created to address the needs of a traditionally unserved or underserved group. According to research conducted throughout North America, people with disabilities are anywhere from two to four times more likely to experience sexual violence than the general population.

The funding from SafePlace for Accessing Safety is a three year grant. In the first year, the project conducted a needs assessment and formed the Southern Arizona Sexual Violence Disability Coalition which is implementing strategies and projects that are indeed promising practices in serving crime victims with disabilities. Among other efforts has created a Promising Practices Handbook for Center Against Sexual Assault staff, forensic nurse examiners and our partners in law enforcement.

According to the needs assessment data collected by the project in the first year, people with disabilities experience sexual violence at a much higher rate than people in the general population. 60% of people with disabilities who responded to the Accessing Safety survey have experienced unwanted sexual activity. People with disabilities who took the survey were just as likely to experience stranger rape as people without disabilities (29% vs. 31%). On average, people with disabilities were victimized by just under four different individuals in their lifetime. About 40% of people with disabilities who experienced sexual violence never told anyone about the trauma. When they did tell, they were more likely to tell friends and family and less likely to tell formal systems (the Center Against Sexual Assault, law enforcement, the behavioral health system). The main reasons for not telling were shame, embarrassment and the fear of not being believed. The most helpful responses reported by those who did tell were that the person's response was non-judgmental, made the person with a disability feel comfortable and the person with a disability felt believed.

To learn more about this program or to become involved with the Southern Arizona Sexual Violence Disability Coalition, call (520) 327-1171 or e-mail mstablein@arizonaschildren.org.

Resource Guide for People with Disabilities Who Experience Violence: Regular Print, Large Print