In the lead up to International Women's' Day next month, AusAID has released a working paper based on ground-breaking research into the prevalence and experiences of violence against women with disability in Cambodia.
The 'Triple Jeopardy' research project–a first of its kind in Cambodia–contributes to a small but growing body of evidence about the higher levels of violence and discrimination experienced by women with disability.
The research points to the interplay between gender inequality, disability and poverty that magnifies the disadvantages faced by women with disability. Findings also reveal that women with disability face similar levels of sexual, physical and emotional violence by partners to non-disabled women but endure much higher levels of other forms of family violence. A quarter of women with disability who were surveyed reported that their family members had been physically violent to them, compared to 11.4 per cent of women without disabilities. More than half of women with disabilities had been subjected to emotional violence from their family compared to 35.2 per cent of women without disabilities.
The project developed a unique tool for the collection and analysis of this kind of highly sensitive data, based on two World Health Organisation tools, one of which measures rates of violence against women and the other on mental health, and established questions on disability by the Washington Group, a UN-authorized body on disability statistics. According to the World Bank and World Health Organization World Report on Disability in 2011, 15 per cent of the world's population lives with a disability. Yet little disaggregated data for disability exists on violence against women, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. Future researchers and policy makers will now be able to use the Triple Jeopardy survey tool to capture credible and accurate information for more informed choices.
The research results themselves are already informing AusAID program design including the Violence Against Women in Cambodia program.
Triple Jeopardy was conducted through a partnership between five research organisations–Banteay Srei, a Cambodian women's rights NGO; the Cambodian Disabled People's Organisation (CDPO); CBM-Australia, a disability-focused development agency; the International Women's Development Agency; and Monash University–and was funded through an AusAID Development Research Award.
More information
AusAID Research Working Paper Series–Triple Jeopardy research project