Disability and Intersectionality Series: Stop telling me I’m pretty for a girl in a wheelchair: How your words contribute to domestic violence against women with disabilities with Stephanie Woodward

About the event

Women with disabilities have a 40% greater chance of experiencing intimate partner violence than women without disabilities. Disabled people are three times as likely to be sexually assaulted in their lifetime than nondisabled people, and 50% of women who have been assaulted were assaulted more than ten times. Additionally, research shows that women with disabilities experience more frequent and more severe acts of violence. In her discussion, Disability Rights attorney and activist Stephanie Woodward explains how disabled women encounter many barriers to seeking support, including societal attitudes about disability contribute to the domestic violence and sexual assault that disabled women experience and how we, as a society, can and must change.

Bio: This presentation is hosted by disability attorney and advocate, Stephanie Woodward. As a Crime Victims Attorney at Empire Justice Center, Stephanie provides civil legal assistance to help individuals recover from crimes that they have experienced. Prior to joining Empire Justice, Stephanie served as the Director of Advocacy at the Center for Disability Rights for five years where she zealously worked for national, state, and local systemic change to advance the rights of people with disabilities. She also worked as a litigator in Miami, Florida where she practiced disability rights law.  As a proud disabled woman and civil rights activist, Stephanie is committed to making the law work for all oppressed people.