The following organizations can be accessed for additional information and resources related to accessibility, disability and trauma. This alphabetized list is provided as a starting point and is not comprehensive or exhaustive.
Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services (ADWAS)
“Abused Deaf Women’s Advocacy Services empowers Deaf and Deaf Blind survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and harassment to transform their lives, while striving to change the beliefs and behaviors that foster and perpetuate violence. We provide comprehensive services to individuals and families, community education, and advocacy services at both the personal and political levels.”
Accessing Safety Initiative
The Accessing Safety Initiative was established in 2005 by the Vera Institute of Justice and the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to provide technical assistance and training to help organizations and communities meet the needs of women with disabilities and Deaf women who have experienced domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Building Dignity
Building Dignity is a website from the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, which explores design strategies for domestic violence shelters, based on the premise that thoughtful design dignifies survivors by meeting their needs for self-determination, security and connection. The site offers a variety of strategies, from easy and affordable redecorating tips to major renovation strategies requiring longer term planning and investment. Quotes from survivors, case studies describing how domestic violence programs have employed a particular strategy, and links to additional information are also available on the website, which was created in partnership with an architecture firm.
Center for Research on Women with Disabilities (CROWD)
“Our mission is to promote, develop, and disseminate information to improve the health and expand the life choices of women with disabilities. (…) CROWD is also dedicated to helping women with disabilities organize into local support and advocacy groups (face-to-face and online) and to solidify our national presence as a force to be reckoned with.”
Center on Victimization and Safety
The Center on Victimization and Safety at the Vera Institute of Justice works to ensure that underserved victims of crime have equal access to victim services and criminal justice interventions by fostering collaboration and building organizational capacity among victim service organizations, culturally specific service providers, and the criminal justice system. “A cornerstone of our work is a portfolio of projects designed to end violence against people with disabilities. This portfolio includes research studies, training initiatives, technical assistance to foster community-based collaborations to improve responses to violence against people with disabilities, and evaluation efforts to identify what works when serving these survivors.”
Disability is Natural
“The mission of Disability is Natural is to encourage new ways of thinking about developmental disabilities, in the belief that our attitudes drive our actions, and changes in our attitudes and actions can help create a society where all children and adults with developmental disabilities have opportunities to live the lives of their dreams, included in all areas of life.”
Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD)
“The Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD), founded in Boston in 1978 as Adaptive Environments, is an international non-governmental educational organization (NGO) committed to advancing the role of design in expanding opportunity and enhancing experience for people of all ages and abilities through excellence in design. IHCD’s work balances expertise in legally required accessibility with promotion of best practices in human-centered or universal design.”
National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health
“The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health provides training, support, and consultation to advocates, mental health and substance abuse providers, legal professionals, and policymakers as they work to improve agency and systems-level responses to survivors and their children. Our work is survivor defined and rooted in principles of social justice.”
National Disability Rights Network (NDRN)
NDRN is the nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and Client Assistance Programs (CAP). Collectively, the P&A/CAP network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy services to people with disabilities in the United States. NDRN’s mission is to promote the integrity and capacity of the P&A/CAP national network and to advocate for the enactment and vigorous enforcement of laws protecting civil and human rights of people with disabilities.