Responding to victims of domestic abuse with a visual impairment

Course overview

The course is vital for ensuring that we are reaching victims with a visual impairment and breaking down the barriers that prevent them from having a multi-agency response to keep them safe and supported.

From The Unseen report, it is evident that there is a disconnect between visual impairment services and domestic abuse services. They identified that professionals working in one sector would be unaware of the work going on in the other sector. This was viewed negatively as participants felt when seeking support on domestic abuse, their visual impairment was not taken into account, and on the flip side, when seeking support for their visual impairment, identification of domestic abuse was not considered. An interview participant identified that visually impaired people are more likely to have professionals involved in their lives because of the disability, but that these professionals will not necessarily understand domestic abuse.

Read more about the findings and recommendations from report, The Unseen: Blind and partially sighted people’s experiences of domestic abuse

In developing the training we encourage learners to take account of the unique risk factors faced by victims that have a visual impairment or are registered blind and how to safety plan effectively.

We aim to focus on how we can bridge the gaps between victims and services to remove barriers and improve accessibility. The training will consider intersectionality, including the needs of survivors who are doubly disadvantaged when facing sight loss, such as Black, Asian and racially minoritised communities, LGBTQI+ communities and others.

The course will be OCN accredited at Level 3 for 1 Credit.