Shining a Light

In October 2021, the statement on the previous page was part of the opening address at a Disability Royal Commission hearing. The words, spoken by senior counsel Kate Eastman SC, painted a damning picture of the denial of rights to women and girls with disability in Australia.

Since being established in 2019, and more recently during that particular hearing - Public Hearing 17 - late last year, the Disability Royal Commission has been investigating the nature and extent of violence and abuse of women and girls with disability, including those who identify as L(G)BTIQA+, in family and domestic settings such as family and group homes.

Two in five women with disability have experienced physical violence, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and 90 per cent of women with intellectual disability have experienced sexual abuse, found the Australian Law Reform Commission. Meanwhile, a 2018 La Trobe University study revealed that 46 per cent of the L(G)BTIQA+ people who reported harassment or violence over a 12-month period had a disability.

Giving a voice to these statistics by hearing the personal