Sf. Gilson et al., Linking the assessment of self-reported functional capacity with abuse experiences of women with disabilities, VIOL AG WOM, 7(4), 2001, pp. 418-431
Women with disabilities are abused at rates similar to or greater than thei
r nondisabled counterparts. Compared with nonabused women, women abused by
an intimate partner have a greater risk of being disabled or having an illn
ess that affects their activities of daily living. Although disabled women
experience similar forms of abuse to those of nondisabled women, some forms
of abuse are unique to disabled women due to the limitations that the disa
bility itself presents. This article presents a conceptual analysis of abus
e of disabled women and discusses assessment procedures that can assist in
identifying abuse and informing service delivery. We propose a model of abu
se assessment for women with disabilities composed of three elements: tradi
tional assessment anchored on the Power and Control Wheel that encompasses
the unique forms of abuse that disabled women experience; comprehensive fun
ctional assessment through self-reporting and self-rating and attention to
heterogeneity with regard to cultural sensitivity, structure of reporting,
and nature of disability.