The Silent Tears Project co-presented an event about violence against women with disability in conjunction with the Centre for Disability Research and Policy at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney. A display from the Silent Tears multi-media exhibition provides the platform for a discussion by an expert panel on the violence against women with disability and sustainable and inclusive approaches to preventing and addressing violence against all women. Th etopic of the discussion was ‘Social movements have risen and fallen throughout history, and today, the impact of technology accelerates this process in global social environments that remain disconnected. The topic of violence against women with disability is only now entering the conversation on gender-based violence. Recognition that violence does happen to women with disabilities and that violence causes disability is the first step in creating environments of social and economic sustainability for all women who are impacted by violence. Their lived experience is multi-faceted and formed at the intersections of their identity, gender and culture, making gender based violence difficult to resolve unless a holistic approach is undertaken. How could an inclusive and holistic approach be made sustainable whilst the recognition of diversity expands and implodes across these intersections? ‘
  • PARTICIPATING CHAIR – Professor Gwynnyth Llewllyn, Director of Centre for Disability Research and Policy
  • Susan Salthouse, Member of the COAG Advisory Panel to reduce violence against women
  • Megan Mitchell National Children’s Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission
  • Kirsty Foster, Associate Professor in Medical Education, Associate Dean (International) and Head Global Health
  • Morgan Carpenter, co-chair of national intersex organisation, OII Australia