Building a movement at the intersections.
Ending victimization, criminalization and incarceration of people with disabilities and Deaf people.
We believe disability, survivor advocacy, and criminal legal system reform fields play critical roles in securing freedom and safety for people with disabilities and Deaf people. Yet, none of these fields are currently working to systematically address the high rates of victimization, over-policing and over-incarceration of people with disabilities. These fields are disconnected, often mis-aligned, and lack the capacity needed to work together toward collective impact.
We foster alignment, build capacity, and support greater coordination across these social justice movements to realize our goals of freedom and healing – not harm and punishment - for people with disabilities and Deaf people.
Building Pathways to Safety and Healing
People with disabilities and Deaf people experience victimization at alarming rates: 3 - 5 times higher than people without disabilities. Yet, the vast majority of people with disabilities never receive services to support healing from trauma due to systemic barriers in victim services and disability services.
Expanding Deaf Services and Advocacy
Despite high rates of domestic and sexual violence within Deaf communities, Deaf survivors face systemic barriers that often prevent them from getting the help they need from hearing victim services organizations. For Deaf, by Deaf services - services designed and run by members of Deaf communities - effectively serve Deaf survivors, but they only exist in a small handful of communities across the country.
Ending Criminalization and Incarceration
People of color with disabilities and Deaf people are arrested and incarcerated in the U.S. at disproportionately high rates. But, disability and Deaf communities have largely been ignored by movements to end mass incarceration. It is time to center people with disabilities and Deaf people, and end their criminalization and mass incarceration.
Healing and Dignity Behind and Beyond Bars
For people with disabilities in jail or prison, life is particularly harsh, difficult, and isolating. The impacts of these traumas on people with disabilities who have been incarcerated are far ranging and can last a lifetime. They are especially acute for Black and brown people with disabilities.
The Latest from Activating Change
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Disability Disparities in the Criminal Legal System
Activating Change staff provide an overview of disability disparities in jail-impacted communities; discuss how ableism, audism, and racism intersect and drive widespread criminalization of people with disabilities and these disparities; and provide examples of barriers throughout the criminal legal system that lead to people with disabilities and Deaf people experiencing worse outcomes.
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Transformative Justice
With high rates of victimization and incarceration, people with disabilities have an elevated likelihood of having contact with the criminal legal system. This contact can be deadly, with 50% of people killed by police in the United States having a disability. As a result, people with disabilities, and specifically people of color with disabilities, have sought alternative ways to heal and promote accountability. Transformative Justice was created by and for people from marginalized communities to respond to violence when calling the police may not be a viable or safe option.
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Preventing Sexual Assault in Detention
The Making PREA and Victim Services Accessible for Incarcerated People with Disabilities: An Implementation Guide for Practitioners on the Adult and Juvenile Standards provides strategies to correctional agencies to prevent sexual abuse of people with disabilities who are incarcerated. The strategies draw on established practices used in detention settings, as well as community-based organizations.
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State of Deaf Services
Deaf domestic and sexual violence programs are few and far between in comparison to hearing programs. There are only 20 “for Deaf, by Deaf” programs compared to approximately 3,000 programs designed for hearing survivors. What does this mean for Deaf survivors of domestic and sexual violence trying to heal from violence and abuse? A panel of advocates from Deaf domestic and sexual violence programs discussed the state of Deaf services.
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Ableism and Violence
This plain language guide to ableism and the ways that ableism contributes to violence against people with disabilities is designed to support self-advocates as they fight a root cause of violence against people with disabilities: ableism.
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Serving Sexual Assault Survivors
April was Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In this webinar, we feature a panel discussion between a sexual assault survivor with a disability, a local service provider, and a national expert. We explore the unique barriers that people with disabilities navigate when healing and the strategies advocates can use to proactively remove those barriers.
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![The Mass Incarceration of People with Disabilities and Deaf People Presented December 5, 2023]()
The Mass Incarceration of People with Disabilities and Deaf People
Jordan Landry and Kaitlin Kall provide an overview of the mass incarceration of people with disabilities; discuss how ableism, audism, and racism intersect resulting in vast disparities; and unpack some of the specific harms and injustices faced by people with disabilities and Deaf people when they encounter the criminal legal system.
