The Margins to the Mainstream: preventing violence against women with disabilities project was developed in response to the prevalence and seriousness of violence against women with disabilities.

It extended from the years of collaborative work undertaken by the Together For Equality and Respect (TFER) partnership on the primary prevention of violence against women. It builds on the partners’ commitment to deepening intersectional practice (see TFER Strategy here) in the eastern metropolitan area of Melbourne.

The project is led by Women’s Health East, in partnership with Women with Disabilities Victoria (WDV), and the Together For Equality & Respect partnership.

This website is a resource hub for project information and resources produced through the project.

Women’s Health East acknowledges the support of the Australia Government Department of Social Services for the project from March 2020 to June 2024

Margins to the Mainstream Project

Preventing violence against women with disabilities

The project was designed to amplify the voices of women with disabilities, by centring their expertise in primary prevention work and building the capacity of TFER partners to contribute to the prevention of violence against women with disabilities.

The project had five objectives:

1

Strengthen partnerships for sustained work in the prevention of violence against women with disabilities

2

Elevate the voices of women with disabilities and promote their leadership and status in society

3

Build the capacity of partners to embed a focus on sexism and ableism into their prevention work, as intersecting structural drivers of violence against women with disabilities

4

Challenge intersecting sexist and ableist stereotypes across the community and other settings, such as organisations

5

Contribute to the evidence base on what works in community-led efforts to prevent violence against women with disabilities

A consortium of TFER partners committed to the project during the concept and proposal development.

These organisations were represented on the Project Advisory Group formed at project inception: Women’s Health East (as lead), Yarra Ranges Council, Boroondara City Council, FvREE, Access Health and Community, Inspiro and the Regional Family Violence Partnership for Melbourne’s eastern region.

The Project Advisory Group also included Women with Disabilities Victoria, as a specialist and implementing partner alongside Women’s Health East, WLK Consulting as the project evaluator (for the period 2020 – 2022) and a community representative, a woman with lived experience of disability.

The Project Advisory Group played a key role in the project’s development and delivery, and the continuation of work to prevent violence against women in the TFER partnership beyond the end of project funding

Women with lived experience of disability, including neurodiversity, mental health and chronic health conditions are at the centre of the Margins to the Mainstream Project through the Project Experts Group (see more information about the Experts Group here).

A number of mutually reinforcing project activities were undertaken for coordinated action to address ableism and gender inequality in primary prevention activities. These included:

Resources co-designed by women with disabilities
Workforce capacity development through training and Community of Practice sessions for TFER members and others
Training and capacity development for women with disabilities in the Experts group
Workshops for women with disabilities connected to advisory committees with TFER partner organisations
Social marketing and campaigns for the 16 Days of Activism to End Violence against women
Meaningful consultations with selected TFER member organisations with the Project Experts Group on selected organisational initiatives
Presentations to regional events and other presentations showcasing the Project Experts as speakers and panelists.

The project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services from March 2020 to end June 2024.

Funding from other sources is being sought to continue this important work in the eastern region of Melbourne and beyond.

We acknowledge the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people, the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future. We affirm that sovereignty was never ceded.