SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Dec. 2 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The director of the Canary Islands Institute for Equality (ICI), Kika Fumero, presented this Friday the ‘Diagnosis on women with disabilities and gender violence’ in which, among other issues, it is evident that the biggest obstacle that women encounter to denounce, or recount the violence they have suffered, is the lack of credibility of the environment.
As shown by the study prepared from the surveys carried out on 219 women with disabilities residing in the Canary Islands and 18 interviews with professionals, 40% of the people to whom the testimony is entrusted doubt the veracity of their testimonies and 92% of the occasions, someone doubted the veracity.
Kika Fumero contextualized the report in the celebration of December 3, ‘International Day of Persons with Disabilities’ and assured that “it is an unprecedented diagnosis” since in the Canary Islands they did not have data and their results, “alarming data, present a undesired reality that highlights the urgent reaction that must be had from the Administration”.
“Now we do have a photograph that is very close to reality and now we do have a well-founded basis to start designing public policies in this regard,” he said in a note sent by the Ministry of Social Rights.
The director highlighted that “27% of femicides since 2019 were women with disabilities” and of the total financial aid requested from the ICI in 2021, “15% were women with recognized degrees of disability.”
The diagnosis, prepared by the ICI, reveals that 71% of those surveyed have experienced sexist violence outside their partner, and close to half (47%) were men in the family, 29% were unknown, 21% known and 3% a caregiver.
Within the couple or ex-partner, the most common forms of violence were humiliation, contempt, or social isolation.
In 72% of the cases, the man wanted to know where he was at all times and would get angry if he talked to others; 77% belittled or humiliated her in front of other people and 75% were threatened by the aggressor with hurting her.
In 57% of the cases they used their disability to belittle it and 74% felt intimidated or scared.
65% of the women who have suffered violence have also expressed having experienced economic violence and in terms of physical violence, 58% were slapped or hit with some object and 35% were threatened.
In addition, 59% were forced to have sex without wanting it for fear of what they could do if they refused.
DISABILITY, A DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF VIOLENCE
Regarding the consequences, 35% consider that their disability is a direct result of gender violence, 31% state that they suffer from some type of mental disorder or illness as a consequence of gender violence, and 34% have had suicidal thoughts. or desire to self-harm.
The most common symptoms after being attacked have been anxiety (79%), sadness (78%), feelings of uselessness (75%), mood swings (73%), desire to cry for no reason (70%), anguish ( 60%), insomnia (57%), irritability (54%) and permanent fatigue (41%),
loss of self-esteem (76%), depression (69%) and feelings of anger, rage and anger (60%).
Anxiety, fear, panic attacks (55%), feelings of despair and helplessness (52%), sleep and eating problems (51%), concentration problems or lack of memory (39%) have also appeared.
17% had never told it before and among those who have told it, close to half, 47%, it was because it had been discovered or because they had been asked directly.
In 45% of the cases, they stated that they did not report the violent situation because the relationship had ended and they preferred not to remember, for fear of the aggressor or for shame.
27% requested help through Social Services specialized in Attention to Gender Violence (SIAM, DEMA, CAI, ETC), 10% in the Municipal Social Services and the rest through 112, 016 or reference professionals .
42% had problems of some kind to access help and 30% did not go anywhere to request help.
The objective of this study, the result of the protocol established between the (ICI) and the Committee of Representative Entities of Persons with Disabilities of the Canary Islands, CERMI-Canarias, has been to know the situation and determining factors of the greater vulnerability of women with disabilities in Canary Islands in relation to gender violence.
In total, 219 women with disabilities residing in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands were surveyed, between June 3 and August 11, 2022, and interviews were held with 18 professionals in the field of disability and professionals from the care network for gender violence.
