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\"A family separated by racism against Japanese Americans and the discrimination of people with developmental disabilities--reunited seventy years later, returning to their roots on a farm and bound by family secrets\"-- Provided by publisher.

In this study of women learning disabilities, Michelle McCarthy investigates how these women experience their sexual lives, basing her research on interviews with the women themselves. She argues the importance of informing the work of those responsible at research, practice and policy levels with the voices of people with learning disabilities.

'Sexuality and Women with Learning Disabilities makes a significant contribution to both feminist and disability literature, because it challenges common assumptions about the sexuality of people with learning disabilities, forces a reconsideration of how this group of people are viewed by those around them and links gender and disability in its analysis.'-Tizard Learning Disability Review'By tackling issues that have received little meaningful attention, McCarthy both makes a valuable contribution to the literature and provides a useful practical guide to those wishing to support their clients more effectively.'- Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Care'The thoroughness and attention to detail with which McCarthy has investigated and written about the sexual lives of a small number of women with mild to moderate learning difficulties is to be commended. Drawing upon interviews with the women who participated in this study, there is explicit detail about the reality of their sexual lives that overall comes across as sad, poignant and often shocking, with a high level of sexual abuse revealed... however, McCarthy has a strong code of ethics and sensitivity and a reflexive honesty about her role and stance as a feminist researcher that removes any possibility or suggestion of prurient voyeurism or exploitation being a part of this research. McCarthy writes as a woman with and about women, allowing their voices about their sexual experiences to be heard through the medium of in-depth interviews. Within the book, the sexual experiences of women with learning disabilities are set in a wider policy and practice framework and discussed in relation to ideologies surrounding learning disability, gender and sexuality in a cultural context. The book ends with a chapter discussing and listing policy and practice recommendations, including suggestions about changes to the law... Overall, this was a convincing and compelling book that deserves serious attention and I would strongly recommend it to anyone with an interest in learning disability issues, including practitioners, carers, relatives, advocates and counsellors.'- CSPRD NewsletterIn this study of women with mild and moderate learning disabilities, Michelle McCarthy investigates how these women experience their sexual lives, basing her research on interviews with the women themselves. She argues the importance of informing the work of those responsible at research, practice and policy levels with the voices of people with learning disabilities. In the interviews, women talk openly about what form their sexual activity takes and what it means for them, the circumstances in which it occurs, and the pleasures (or lack thereof) associated with it. These interviews directly shape the policy and practice recommendations the author makes.Michelle McCarthy's findings suggest that women with learning disabilities commonly find themselves engaged in sexual activity which is not to their liking and not of their choosing. A high level of sexual abuse was also reported. The author discusses this in relation to the cultural forces which have influenced Western perceptions of sexuality, feminism and theories and prejudices about learning disabilities. She also studied the impact of institutional and community settings on the sexuality of women with learning disabilities. In Sexuality and Women with Learning Disabilities, McCarthy makes recommendations for policy and practice which will protect this vulnerable group, and advises on education, support and seeking justice for abused women.

Approximately 15% of people with disabilities are women of reproductive age. Women with physical disabilities are neglected in reproductive and sexual health. Complex health conditions, mobility limitations, negative disability stereotypes, and misconceptions about their needs directly and indirectly affect their sexual and reproductive health. Access to appropriate reproductive health care is crucial for empowering these women to manage their reproductive and sexual health challenges effectively. This scoping review aims to identify, explore, and map the existing evidence on reproductive health programs and interventions in women with physical disabilities. This scoping review will be based on Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework and the subsequent recommendations of Levac et al. We will search for studies published from January 2006-2024 in English and Persian without restriction by study design in databases such as Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, Springer, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and websites like the World Health Organization, UNICEF and government sites for policies and reports about reproductive health programs for women with physical disabilities. Two or more reviewers will independently conduct all stages of the study. Data synthesis will utilize a qualitative analysis approach, and this review will be reported using the PRISMA-ScR checklist. This scoping review synthesizes evidence on reproductive health interventions for women with physical disabilities, including educational and awareness programs, healthcare access initiatives, support groups, and policy interventions. We will explore these interventions across various dimensions of reproductive health. The results of this review will offer a comprehensive overview of available resources and identify critical gaps in reproductive health for this population. To our understanding, this study may be the first scoping review in this field, which could provide valuable guidance to key stakeholders.

Background Studies show that different socio-economic and structural factors can limit access to healthcare for women with disabilities. The aim of the current study was to review barriers in access to healthcare services for women with disabilities (WWD) internationally. Methods We conducted a systematic review of relevant qualitative articles in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases from January 2009 to December 2017. The search strategy was based on two main topics: (1) access to healthcare; and (2) disability. In this review, women (older than 18) with different kinds of disabilities (physical, sensory and intellectual disabilities) were included. Studies were excluded if they were not peer-reviewed, and had a focus on men with disabilities. Results Twenty four articles met the inclusion criteria for the final review. In each study, participants noted various barriers to accessing healthcare. Findings revealed that WWD faced different sociocultural (erroneous assumptions, negative attitudes, being ignored, being judged, violence, abuse, insult, impoliteness, and low health literacy), financial (poverty, unemployment, high transportation costs) and structural (lack of insurance coverage, inaccessible equipment and transportation facilities, lack of knowledge, lack of information, lack of transparency, and communicative problems) factors which impacted their access healthcare. Conclusions Healthcare systems need to train the healthcare workforce to respect WWD, pay attention to their preferences and choices, provide non-discriminatory and respectful treatment, and address stigmatizing attitudinal towards WWD. In addition, families and communities need to participate in advocacy efforts to promote WWD’s access to health care.

Background There is a consensus among scholars, policymakers, and implementers that addressing the complex nature of intimate partner violence (IPV) requires a collaborative response. However, there is limited literature on how various professionals work collaboratively to address the needs of women with disabilities who experience IPV. This study combines the perspectives of women with disabilities and those of professionals to understand collaboration in providing IPV services to women with disabilities. Methods Twenty-nine in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 IPV service providers and 11 women with disabilities. The data were analyzed using reflective thematic analysis. Results The findings are presented under three themes: the first shows a consensus among different IPV service providers and disabled women on the importance of collaboration when supporting victims of IPV with disabilities; the second depicts the common ways in which collaboration occurs when supporting women with disabilities; and the third illuminates the critical elements that boost effective collaboration. Conclusion Supporting IPV victims with disabilities requires active collaboration at both an internal and external level. Strengthening collaboration among different actors requires trust, specified roles, and the allocation of adequate resources.

Women with disabilities in rural Nepal face many challenges in accessing sexual and reproductive health services including harassment and unpleasant behavior by the healthcare providers. Though National Guideline for Disability Inclusive Health Service in Nepal is in place, there are gaps in providing the sexual and reproductive health needs of women with disabilities. There has been limited research exploring the competency and capacity of health care providers on providing sexual and reproductive health services and information for women living with disabilities. Thus, this study aims to explore the competencies of rural healthcare providers in delivering disability inclusive sexual and reproductive health services for women with disabilities. The study used qualitative research methodology using thematic research design. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted using semi-structured interview guidelines to obtain information. Data collection was carried out till the data saturation was reached. Inductive coding was done using Dedoose software. The codebook was developed, sub-themes and themes were developed and presented as result of this study. Knowledge gaps in disability management, procedural skills and biased perception towards sexual and reproductive health need of women with disabilities, were evident among healthcare providers. Additionally, an inadequate skill among health care providers to communicate with women with disabilities for service provision was evident. To address these challenges and enhance the competency of the health care providers there is need for disability management trainings for them. Other important measures such as inclusion of disability and sexual and reproductive health in medical education curriculum, provision of sign language interpreter and disability inclusive information system, decision-making abilities and authority for disability inclusive infrastructure and tool is necessary. To address the existing challenges for disability inclusive health services, it is essential to strengthen the competency and agency of the healthcare providers, and improve the ecosystem of health institution. For this, it is important for health institutions to be disability inclusive, improved behavior and attitude of health care providers, enhanced clinical knowledge on disability management and procedural skills of healthcare providers. Additionally, improving interpersonal communication skills and decision-making autonomy of health care providers is important for disability inclusive SRH services.

Existing evidence indicates that prevalence of violence against women with disability is elevated compared to women without disability. We conducted a scoping review with a focus on measurement to assess the forms of measurement and study design utilized to explore the intersection of violence against women with disabilities, and to identify strengths and limitations in current approaches to measuring violence against women with disabilities. This scoping review is designed to inform current debates and discussions regarding how to generate evidence concerning violence against women with disabilities. We conducted systematic searches of the following databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, CINAHL, PILOTS, ERIC, Social Work Abstracts, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, Social Services Abstracts, ProQuest Criminal Justice, and Dissertations & Theses Global, and conducted structured searches of national statistics and surveys and grey literature available on-line. We identified 174 manuscripts or reports for inclusion. n = 113 manuscripts or reports utilized acts-specific measurement of violence. In terms of measurement of disability, we found that amongst the included manuscripts and reports, n = 75 utilized measures of functioning limitations (n = 20 of these were Washington Group questions), n = 15 utilized a single question approach and n = 67 defined participants in the research as having a disability based on a diagnosis or self-report of a health condition or impairment. This scoping review provides a comprehensive overview of measurement of violence against women with disabilities and measurement of violence within disability-focused research. We identified several important gaps in the evidence, including lack of sex and disability disaggregation, limited evidence concerning adaptation of data collection methods to ensure accessibility of research activities for women with disabilities, and limited evidence concerning differential relationships between types of disability and violence exposure. This scoping review provides directions for sub-analyses of the included studies and further research to address gaps in evidence.

This book provides the first comprehensive exploration of the issues affecting the lives of women with intellectual disabilities. Women from all over the world have collaborated to write about their lives, their experiences and their hopes for the future. Different aspects of life - work, family, relationships and more - are discussed.

Objectives We compared fertility desires and intentions among women with disabilities and women without disabilities in the United States, using a new evidence-based measure of disability. Methods We analyzed data from a sample of 5601 US women 15–44 years of age in the 2011–2013 National Survey of Family Growth. The data were analyzed via cross-tabulation and logistic regression. We classified women into those with a disability and those without a disability. Results Women with disabilities were about as likely to want a baby (61%) as women without disabilities (60%). But only 43% of women with disabilities intended to have a baby in the future, compared with 50% of women without disabilities. Thus, the difference between the percent who want a baby and the percent who intend to have one was larger for disabled women. Women with disabilities were also less certain of their fertility intentions. Multivariate analysis shows that having a disability lowers the odds of intending another birth, after controlling for several other determinants of fertility intentions. Conclusions for Practice All women, regardless of disability status, desired more children than they actually planned to have, but the gap was larger for most groups of women with disabilities than for non-disabled women. Given the sample sizes available in this analysis, future research should use more detailed classifications of disability, however, we have shown that women living with disabilities constitute large populations with unexplored family planning needs.