There is Always Hope Julie Rems-Smario, M.A.,M.S.

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There is Always HopeJulie Rems-Smario,
M.A.,M.S.
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What Is ?

• is a nonprofit
  organization, established for and by Deaf women
  in January 2003
• Our mission at
• is to end domestic violence and sexual assault
  against Deaf women and children through
  empowerment, education and services

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HERSTORY OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
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Violence Against Women Exists in All Cultures

• Violence against women is different in each
  culture based on the language and values of their
  people

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Juarez, MexicoOver 400 young women murdered

• .

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• Women are 5 to 8 times
• more likely than men to experience domestic
  violence
• U.S. Department of Justice (1998)

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• Deaf Women in domestic and sexual violence
  situations are at greater risk for fatality
  because of lack of resources, access, and audism

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Deaf VICTIMS of Domestic Violence

• Amber Burroughs Illionois
• Darlene Vandergliesen-South Dakota
• Kisha Sullivan-New York
• Christine Bronk-Wisconsin
• Tallie Marie Antolin-South Carolina
• Heather Villalba-Maryland
• Priscilla Vinci-California
• Penny Williams-Utah

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Domestic Violence?

• Pattern of Power and Control behavior
• Happens in all cultures
• Power and control is based on language and values
  of people in each culture

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Domestic Violence In Deaf Community

• Deaf community also has aspects of domestic
  violence often overlooked by law enforcement,
  medical professionals, etc.
• Deaf women have less options then hearing women
  for domestic violence services
• Deaf community is unique because of its language
  and cultural norms that cross geographical
  borders
• Domestic violence in Deaf community often
  overlooked by hearing professionals such as the
  law enforcement

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ASL VOCABULARY FOR DV/SV

• Victim
• Survivor
• Abuse
• Domestic Violence
• Sexual Violence
• Child Abuse
• Abuser/Batterer/ Perpetrator
• Empowerment
• Healing Process
• Audism
• Deafhood

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Eight Aspects of Power Control

• Intimidation
• Emotional Abuse
• Isolation
• Minimize, Deny, Blame
• Using Children
• Hearing Privilege/Male Privilege
• Economic Abuse
• Coercion/Threats

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Examples of Domestic Violence in the Deaf
Community

• Overuses floor stomping/pounding on table or door
• Signs very close to your face when angry
• Criticizes your ASL skills or communication style
• Makes you afraid with gestures, facial
  expressions, or exaggerated signs, then denies it
  by saying that is Deaf Culture to justify the
  behavior

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Examples of Hearing Privilege Abuse

• If you call the police, he interprets to
  manipulate the situation to his benefit
• He doesnt allow your children to use ASL or talk
  with you
• He doesnt allow your children to be proud of
  Deaf Culture
• He puts down your ASL
• He criticizes your speech and English skills
• He excludes you from important conversations

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LOST Deaf survivor loses trust in self after
trauma from domestic and/or sexual violence and
loses trust in the system because of Audism

• I am so exhausted from trying to teach the
  hearing system about my access rights that I
  cannot focus on taking care of myself. I feel
  like giving up --Deaf survivor

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OUR SYSTEM -- MORE STRIKES AGAINST DEAF
SURVIVORSRevictimized by the system--Law
enforcement, courts, shelters, department of
children and family services, counseling, etc.,
due to audism
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DEAF CULTUREDeaf culture is learned and passed
down from generation to generation. Most
cultures are passed down within families and at
Deaf schools 90 percent of Deaf people are born
to hearing parents, so only a small percentage of
Deaf people learn their culture from their
family. Most Deaf people learn their culture
and language through interactions with their
peers at school and in the Deaf community
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AUDISM(from Latin audire, to hear, and -ism, a
system of practice, behavior, belief, or
attitude)http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audism

• a term used to describe discrimination or
  stereotypes against deaf people
• Judgement that a deaf person is incapable simply
  because he or she cannot hear
• Assumption that the cultural ways of hearing
  people are preferable or superior to those of
  deaf or signing culture
• Belief that deaf people are somehow less capable
  than hearing people--Audists can either be
  hearing or deaf

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Audism is also another word for hearing
superiority

• an attitude of thinking one person is superior to
  another person because he or she can hear better
  than him or her.
• Audism also happens during interactions between
  some deaf
• Deaf people who do not value sign language and
  will not identify with the Deaf community may
  consider themselves to be "better" than others
  who use sign language and are part of Deaf
  culture.
• This is often learned behavior taught by public
  schools, oral programs, and hearing parents.

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AUDISM IN OUR SYSTEMThe hearing way of
dominating, restructuring, and exercising
authority over the deaf community

• Historically practiced by administrators of
  education institutes for deaf children, training
  programs for deaf adults, interpreters, and some
  audiologists, speech therapists, otologists,
  psychologists, psychiatrists, librarians,
  researchers, social workers, and hearing aid
  specialists.
• (Lane 1992 43)

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Least Restrictive EnvironmentNOT!

• PL 94-142 enforced children with disabilities to
  attend public school as least restrictive
  environmentIt is actually the most restrictive
  environment for Deaf children
• Many Deaf children experienced isolation in
  public children without critical mass of Deaf
  peers often found at Deaf schools
• During past 30 years Deaf children have been
  growing up up without strong foundation in either
  English or ASL
• Without Deaf adults as role models, they
  generally lacked self esteem as Deaf individuals
• Many Deaf children graduated not knowing how to
  advocate for themselves

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Audism Impacts Deaf Survivors

• Deaf survivors do not trust seeking help from the
  system because of years of experience with Audism
  and oppression
• It is often easier to stay with their abusive
  Deaf batterer than to deal with the system

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DEAFHOODvs Deafness

• Deafhood conveys an affirmation and positive
  acceptance of being deaf.
• Deafness-- a medical term which measures people
  deaf people in terms of their hearing loss as
  an undesirable medical condition.
• Deaf persons have been treated as deficit human
  beings WITHOUT hearing and trained by the
  surrounding dominant hearing culture to regard
  themselves that way, which includes emphasized
  notion around the inability to hear and to speak.
  
• Deafhood--Deaf people evaluate and liberate
  themselves from these internalized inferiority
  complex resulting from Audism and entertaining
  the notion of deficit.
• Deafhood is a process of self-liberation
• by Dr. Paddy Ladd in his book "Understanding
  Deaf Culture In Search of Deafhood".

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Deafhood Movement is parallel to Feminist
Movement
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The Family Dog(Deaf child of Hearing Family)by
Susan Duport
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MYTHBUSTERS ABOUT LIPREADING!

• Only about 30 of the spoken words can be lip
  read, and the rest is educated guesswork
• Educated guess work includes use of clozure
  skills
• Clozure skills requires extensive thinking--
  Survivors are too traumatized, tired and/or
  stressed out

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EXERCISE 1

• YOU ME CROSS
• MISS ME KNOW
• SORRY

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EXERCISE 1 Answer

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• WE MUST HAVE
• JUST MISSED
• EACH OTHER. I AM SORRY.

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EXERCISE 2

• WOMAN SILLY MOUTH WIDE MY FACE ME UNDERSTAND NO
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EXERCISE 2 Answer

• WOMAN WAS SCREAMING IN MY FACE I DIDNT
  UNDERSTAND HER

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EXERCISE 3

• DADDY MANY MANY HIT BLOOD ME SAW ME RAN TELL
  FRIEND ME AFRAID CALL POLICE MAYBE JAIL

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EXERCISE 3 Answer

• DADDY HIT (WHO?) SO MANY TIMES TIL I SAW THE
  BLOOD. I WAS SO SCARED AND RAN AND TOLD A FRIEND
  ABOUT IT. MY FRIEND CALLED THE POLICE AND MAYBE
  DADDY WILL GO TO JAIL.
• Courtesy of www.DVAS.org

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MORE RECOMMENDED READINGS
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DeafHope is Deaf Survivor Centered

• Deaf women advocates who are survivors of
  domestic violence have used their own experience
  to let other Deaf women know that they are not
  alone.
• This power of peer advocacy within our culture
  language context changes the dynamics of social
  change from "us vs them" to "we"

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DeafHopes Empowerment PhilosophyOnly the
survivor can make her own choices to start her
journey towards rediscovering her own power This
only can happen when she finds a place in her own
language, ASL, and Deaf culture context.

• When I first arrived at DeafHope I just sighed
  with relief because I can just focus 100 on
  healing without communication barriers. No more
  misunderstandings and stress
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  --Deaf Survivor

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Deaf advocates are fluent in ASL and culturally
competent
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FINDING HOPEDeafHope promotes environment free
of audism, communication barriers, and fear so
healing can take place
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DeafHope Advocates and Deaf SurvivorsWe listen
with our EYES without judgingWe ask in ASL
what she wantsWe explain with our HANDS her it
is not her fault.We give her VISUAL safety
planWe work with her to CHANGE the
systemThere is no US and THEMAlways WE
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Deaf-run DV/SV Agencies Mushrooming Throughout
Our Nation

• 1980s- Abused Deaf Women Advocacy Services
  (ADWAS) in Seattle, Washington
• 1998-2000-National training to 15 states by ADWAS
• 2003-DeafHope implemented in California
• 2006- ADWAS opened first shelter/transitional
  homes
• 2007-Twenty Deaf-run agencies and programs
• 2008- 4th National Justice for Deaf Victims will
  be hosted in Vermont
• 2010- There will be approximately 40 Deaf DV/SV
  agencies

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Growing Awareness in the Deaf Community

• Access to training videos, websites, vlogs, blogs
• Deaf advocates visibility
• Focus groups and community events

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HOW TO HELP CREATE MORE COMFORTABLE ENVIRONMENT
FOR SHELTERS?Deaf woman in a hearing group
living situation where everyone speaks different
language is very isolating and lonely

• Video Phone and TTYs
• Blank paper and pens
• Allow survivor to keep her pager
• Do not require her to participate in support
  groups (they benefit more with Deaf support group
  if its available)
• Make security system accessible
• Unrestricted access to television with closed
  captioning
• Allow Deaf survivor to visit friends and family
  during the day to get the support she needs and
  break the her isolation
• ADWAS has materials for shelter residents
  Domestic Violence Handbook for Deaf People
  (www.adwas.org)

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For More Information about working with Deaf
Survivors

• www.AccessingSafety.com
• www.Deaf-Hope.org

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We must always hope for world free of violence in
honor of our Deaf Victims
Darlene VanderGiesen 1963-2006
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