Introduction: The context of the book

Disability and violence are global human rights issues that cut across gender, race, age, sexuality, geographical, religious, socio-economic status and cultural boundaries. Disability and violence have a bi-directional causal relationship in that the onset of impairment can be caused by exposure to violence, or violent actions by a perpetrator can be stimulated by a victim’s impairment. The violence includes chemical restraint, medical exploitation and institutional abuse, which simultaneously increase the powerfulness of the perpetrators and the powerlessness of the disabled women. Disabled women and girls have experienced invisibility both by disability rights movements and women’s movements. This has increased their marginalisation and vulnerability to violence and discrimination across the life course, in multiple areas of their lives. The Ashley Thompson case demonstrates how the assumption that disabled women cannot be sexual beings is an example of the intersection of disability and female oppression. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in this book.