Nem Kearns:

I thank Senator Flynn for her questions and for the fantastic work that she does. I will talk about the barriers to equal access to gender-based services and supports but a radical shift is much needed whereby disabled people and disabled women need more of a choice in the topics that are discussed both at this committee, in public consultations, etc. I say that because so often the things that are urgent and important in our lives are not even up for discussion because people do not realise that they need to be discussed. It would be wonderful if we had a more conversational relationship where we can draw attention to the issues that affect disabled women but nobody is looking at the issues or are aware that these things are happening around the country. Such a radical shift is easily done and would be very effective as it would ensure we focus on the areas that really need attention. We must empower disabled people in general, and disabled gender minorities in particular, to make sure that our voices do not continue to be unheard or sidelined because while there is some resistance in some quarters, there is great ambition and support in other quarters but there is a lack of communication. I would love to see much more ongoing communication.

There is not equal access to gender-based services and certainly refuges. We did consultations as part of the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. We also did a consultation in partnership with Inclusion Ireland that focused on women with intellectual disabilities because they have specific needs, as do deaf women and people who use ISL as a first language, and non-speaking people. These women really need very specific ongoing conversations because they have specific needs and services are not equipped.

Services need to be better financially supported. A number of providers have expressed their interest and commitment. For example, Women's Aid is funding a national research project examining the causative factors for the huge level of gender-based violence against disabled women, what helps them to escape violence, what reduces the level of violence and what supports they could institute. Unfortunately, when Women's Aid funds research, it cannot fund something else. We greatly appreciate the support and recognise that there is an appetite for providing support and support from the services, they need support to do that.

They are doing crucial work. There is very little accessibility. I believe there is only one accessible shelter in the entire county of Dublin, and there are areas of the country with nothing at all. The people who work in the refuges are very ill-equipped to support people. Like Senator Flynn said, they often do not know what disabled means. They have an idea of someone in a wheelchair or someone who is blind, someone they can look at and think they are disabled, but they just have not been given the support they need to understand the dynamic nature of disability and how people can be best supported. There is an appetite for gender-based services and DPOs to work together, which is what will be needed - that partnership to approach this as a partnership issue. As I said, I believe there is one accessible shelter in Dublin. That is what I have heard. That is what I have been told. As to how to contact that shelter or how to find it if that access is needed, I have no idea, and I am a co-director of the only national DPO for disabled women. That is frightening. Even when there are accessible elements of the service, it is very difficult to find out anything about them. There needs to be specific, ring-fenced funding for gender-based service providers working in partnership with DPOs to map out what accessibility is there. They also need the money to adapt the shelters. They do not have enough money as it is to provide shelter for everyone who needs it. We fully recognise that but we also need to be clear that the idea that marginalised women can wait until the end, until it has been fixed for everyone else, is not acceptable and not okay.

Ms Hassett mentioned we have no DPO for children and no direct representation for disabled children. We also have no DPO or direct representation for disabled people from ethnic minority groups. Women's, ethnic minorities' and children's DPOs are specific types the CRPD mentions repeatedly in general comment 7 and states need to be given additional prioritisation. I would like to see specific resource and effort put in because this has to be proactive. There is this idea that children have to get together and form a DPO or the most marginalised people in marginalised communities have to step up and then, maybe in a few years, they will be supported, but that will not work. We need to be much more proactive and we need to reach out to people. I like what Ms McDonagh said, that people are not hard to reach but, rather, overlooked. We need to make sure people living in congregated settings are getting information and receiving education. Many disabled women have never received sex education at any point in their lives. They are also just not given the tools to recognise when something is abuse, and that is on us. We have the information; we need to get it to people. We need to make sure they know their rights and what is unacceptable abuse of them, their lives and their bodies.

The expertise of the community and building partnerships to address these issues are one side. The other point is possibly a little controversial, but when big issues of abuse are discovered and reported, such as the Brandon report, for example, and hats off to those who are working on it, they need to be published. We also need to have insight into the institutional side and the institutional failures because as long as things like that are kept under wraps, we are trying to fight fire with one hand. We need the full picture to make those changes.