Description
The project aims to reduce the risk of sexual abuse and violence against women with mental disabilities. This is achieved by providing them with information about their body and how it works, and teach them to recognize risky situations in relationships and sex. Women with mental disabilities will be involved in the development of the learning materials as well as the trainings. Thanks to our Icelandic partner we will also increase our knowledge and know-how about self-help groups for women with mental disabilities and will support the creation of such pilot groups in the Czech Republic. A website dedicated to women with mental disabilities but also their families and professionals will collect the material developed and personal stories from both countries. Finally, the project will attain its objectives by forming a group of experts, including the police, judges and NGOs to work together to better respond to women with mental disabilities who have experienced abuse.
Summary of project results
Women with intellectual disabilities experience difficulties in accessing information and social services and are at greater risk of sexual violence, due the fact that they can be more easily influenced and manipulated. The aim of the project was to reduce the vulnerability of women with intellectual disabilities against abuse and sexual violence. The project pursued the following objectives: to provide women with intellectual disabilities with information that will help them better understand their body and its physiology, their needs and to appropriately recognize when something bad happens to them; to train women with intellectual disabilities, but also their relatives and supporters to understand that women with intellectual disabilities have the same needs as other women (understanding what is going on in their body and feeling safe, experiencing close relationships, love, sex and motherhood); to learn from the partner about the knowledge they gathered in their projects and work as well as to benefit from the experience of Iceland where the emancipation of women (including with intellectual disabilities) in at an advanced stage; and to create a reference group for cases of sexual violence and abuse which bears the know-how gained in the project after its completion, but also enables the interconnection of expertise from various professions dealing with these topics. The outputs increased the awareness of women with intellectual disabilities; self-help groups create a safe space where women can not only share information, but also experiences, often very personal thus generating a high information impact. Carers and supporters also gained greater awareness of the rights of women with intellectual disabilities on relationships, sexuality and parenthood. 18 professionals benefit from a space where they can share their experiences and where they can turn for help and advice. They increased their expertise in the field.
Summary of bilateral results
Mutual sharing and exchanging experiences and practical knowledge mainly in following areas: making Easy-to-Read information (ETR) and involving women with intellectual disabilities in the process of making ETR information, self-help groups for women with intellectual disabilities, gender issues and people with intellectual disabilities. Better understanding and accepting of the gender issues in the connection with disability issues, understanding the role of women with intellectual disabilities. Sharing information and personal experience about the lives of women with intellectual disability in the Czech Republic and Iceland. Very important was the possibility to have number of discussions with our partners on different themes: equality of women and men, sexual assistance, prostitution, the role of parents and other close carers. It is difficult to say how exactly this and how much it influenced the project. However we are sure, that the project I know! would be , without our partners from Iceland, less prosperous and the main message of the project – that the women with intellectual disability have their rights, their needs that are not only linked to their disability but also to the fact, that they are women – wouldn´t be so strong.