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Tag: Sexual and reproductive health

  • Share your experience – Disability and Sexual Health

    Share your experience – Disability and Sexual Health

    PAID OPPORTUNITY

    Are you a woman or gender diverse person with disabilities? Do you have ideas and experiences to share about accessing sexual health services, information or education?

    Expressions of interest now open!

    • Take part in one-on-one interviews or group consultations
    • Share your experience of sexual health clinical services and education
    • Tell us how we can improve sexual health and education services for women and gender diverse people with disabilities in the ACT

    What is the project?

    Women with Disabilities ACT is working with Women’s Health Matters to do a scoping study of sexual health services for women and gender diverse people with disabilities.

    The scoping study will look at:

    • Clinical services
    • Sexual health information
    • Sexual health education

    We will write a report with recommendations to the ACT Government. This report will help to inform sexual health service pilot programs for women and gender diverse people with disabilities in the ACT.

    We have received funding from the ACT Government Health and Community Services Directorate to do this study.

    How can you get involved?

    We are looking to hear from women, non-binary and gender diverse people with disabilities who are over the age of 18. We would also like to hear from you if you care for a woman, non-binary or gender diverse person with disabilities over the age of 18. We want to hear about your experiences accessing (or trying to access) clinical services, sexual health information and sexual health education in the ACT.

    We will be running lots of different kinds of consultations. These will include:

    • In-person group consultations
    • Online group consultations
    • One-on-one interviews

    If you don’t want to take part in a consultation, we also have an option for an online survey.

    What will we ask in the consultation?

    You can view the consultation questions at the attachment below. We may update these questions.

    We will send the questions to you directly before the consultation.

    Disability and Sexual Health questions 20 MayDownload consultation questions (PDF)

    Payment

    If you participate in an interview, or a group consultation, you will be paid $100 for your time.

    If you fill out the survey, you will not receive payment as the survey is anonymous.

    However, you will have the opportunity to be contacted by us for further paid consultation opportunities. This is optional.

    Queries

    If you have any questions or queries about the project, the survey, or the expression of interest form, you can email Pippa at sexualhealth@wwdact.org.au.

    Expression of interest form for consultations

    You can express your interest to be a part of the consultation by filling in the form below.

    Click here to express your interest (Google forms)

    Survey

    You can fill out the survey by clicking the link below.

    Click here for the survey (Surveymonkey)
  • Apply for the Lived Experience Panel – Sexual Health Project

    Apply for the Lived Experience Panel – Sexual Health Project

    WWDACT is looking for 5 women and gender diverse people with disabilities to join a new Lived Experience Panel. The Panel is part of a new project WWDACT is doing with Women’s Health Matters to scope sexual health, information and education services available to women with disabilities in the ACT.

    Who is eligible to be on the panel?

    To be on the Panel you must be:

    • A woman, non-binary and/or gender diverse person
    • A person with disabilities / disabled person
    • Living, studying, working or accessing health services in the ACT
    • 18 years or older

    The Panel is open to anyone who identifies as a person with disabilities or disabled person. You do not need a diagnosis in order to be eligible for the Panel.

    We try to ensure our Panel represents a diverse range of experiences. Everybody is welcome to apply! However, we especially encourage applications from the following groups:

    • Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
    • Older person
    • Person with an intellectual disability
    • LGBTQIA+
    • Transgender, non-binary and/or gender diverse
    • Culturally and linguistically diverse and/or a Person of Colour
    • Detainee
    • Unpaid carer
    • Temporary visa / asylum seeker

    What does the Panel do?

    The Lived Experience Panel will give accountability and advice to the project team that is conducting the project. The Panel will ensure that oversight of the project has input from people with disabilities.

    If you are on the panel we may ask you to share your experience of:

    • Attempting to access sexual health services in the ACT
    • Attempting to access sexual health information and/or education in the ACT

    Members of the Lived Experience Panel may be asked to:

    • Review our proposed consultation and scoping approach
    • Give feedback on our approach to consultation to ensure we are reflecting the diverse needs and priorities of the disability community
    • Give feedback on our consultation findings and the themes we identified
    • Give feedback on the draft report and recommendations

    You don’t have to have experience or extensive knowledge in order to apply! We will support you to give feedback on the project.

    How do we choose our members?

    We will aim to maintain a diverse range of lived experience on the Panel. This includes people with different disabilities or disability types, and different intersecting identities.

    In the application, we will ask you about your knowledge of and experience accessing sexual health information and services. You don’t need to have any specific experience to be eligible to apply.

    Administration information

    The Panel will meet 2-3 times, once in March 2026, once in July 2026, and possibly in August 2026. These timeframes are subject to change.

    We meet online over Zoom. Automatic closed captioning and transcripts are provided. A meeting agenda and papers will be provided at least a week before each meeting, and minutes will be shared within 2 weeks after the meetings.

    We will do our best to meet other access needs – please let us know what would help you participate.

    Panel members are remunerated $250 per session, in the form of an invoice or gift card.

    The full terms of reference for the Panel are available below as a PDF.

    Click here for the Terms of Reference (PDF)

    How to apply

    You can find a link to the application form below.

    Click here to apply (Google forms)

    We accept video or audio submissions, as well as written application forms. Let us know if we can make the form more accessible for you.

    If you need more information about the Lived Experience Panel and the application process, you can email Pippa, WWDACT Senior Policy Officer (policy@wwdact.org.au)

    Applications close March 11th at 5pm.

  • Workshop resource: Consent 102 – Beyond the Basics

    Workshop resource: Consent 102 – Beyond the Basics

    You can view a PDF of the resource below.

    Consent 102 resourceDownload resource

  • 2024-2025 Budget Submission: Sexual and Reproductive Health

    Today Women with Disabilities ACT made a submission to the ACT Budget Consultation regarding issues specific to women, girls, non-binary and gender diverse people with disabilities.

    This submission builds on our previous submission from December last year made jointly with other organisations – ACT Down Syndrome and Intellectual Disability, and Advocacy for Inclusion.

    You can read the submission below.

    WWDACT-Sexual-and-Reproductive-Health-2024-2025-Budget-SubmissionDownload

     

     
  • Joint Submission to the Inquiry into abortion and reproductive choice in the ACT

    Joint Submission to the Inquiry into abortion and reproductive choice in the ACT

    Women with Disabilities ACT (WWDACT) and Advocacy for Inclusion (AFI) are pleased to
    be making a joint submission to the inquiry into abortion and reproductive choice in the
    ACT. Access to healthcare and bodily autonomy are human rights; equitable access to
    abortion and reproductive health care for women* with disabilities is part of achieving
    these rights in the ACT.


    Women throughout this submission refers to women, girls, nonbinary and feminine
    identifying people.


    Our main priorities for the Inquiry are the enactment of strict safeguards to support
    women* with disabilities to make decisions about terminations free from coercion and
    abuse. Allied to this we identify the need to ensure barrier free access to clinics for
    abortion and reproductive healthcare, access to transport and access to medications. We
    are conscious that there are tensions between expanding access and managing the risk of
    coercion and these need to be well managed. We are also keen for discussions around
    reproductive choices to be framed in ways that do not stigmatise people with disability.

    You can read the full submission below.

    Joint submission – Inquiry into abortion and reproductive choice in the ACT (22 August 2022) (002)Download
  • Position statement: Sexual health and reproductive health rights

    Position statement: Sexual health and reproductive health rights

    Our position

    • Sexual and reproductive health rights are fundamental human rights.
    • The discrimination of women* with disabilities in areas of sexual and reproductive health rights is in violation of multiple provisions of the CRPD.
    • Women* with disabilities have the right to make free and informed choices about their bodies, sexual health, reproductive health, intimate and emotional relationships, and parenting.
    • Sexual and reproductive health rights include the right for all couples and individuals to found and maintain a family. This includes the right to and access to the information and means to do so.
    • Women* with disabilities have the right to sexual pleasure, expression, relationships, equity, privacy, freedom, autonomy, and self-determination.
    • Comprehensive sexuality education materials, as well as information on sexual and reproductive health must be made available to women* to with disability in accessible formats.
    • WWDACT opposes the use of forced sterilization, abortion, and contraception – which constitute violence against women* with disability – in the ACT
    • The forced removal of children because of their mother’s disability is a violation of fundamental human rights.
    • When required, women* with disabilities must be provided with the supports needed to make their own decisions about their body without third-party interference.

    You can learn more by reading our position statement linked below.

    WWDACT-Position-Statement-2-Sexual-and-Reproductive-Health-Rights-2Download

  • Report: Contraception, Consent, Respectful Relationships & Sexuality

    This is part 2 of the project report for the Contraception and Consent Project, beginning in 2017.

    The second part of this project looked at the experiences and knowledge of ACT
    women* with disabilities, families, and health and education professionals. It
    identifies what is being done well in the ACT, where there are gaps in services and
    information, and what women*’s needs are. Information was gathered via two online
    surveys, and conversations with survey participants.

    You can read the survey report below.

    Report-May2019_FINAL-CompressedDownload submission
  • Report: Contraception and Consent – A comparative analysis of the legal frameworks for accessing contraception

    Report: Contraception and Consent – A comparative analysis of the legal frameworks for accessing contraception

    This research aims to improve women/girls with disabilities (cognitive, sensory, physical or dual disability) experiences in choosing a contraceptive device. The methodology followed adopts a human rights-based approach to provide a better understanding of contraception and consent issues concerning women with disabilities.

    This research has been initiated by Women With Disabilities ACT (WWDACT). WWDACT is a systemic advocacy and peer support organisation for women and girls with disabilities in the ACT. WWDACT follows a human rights philosophy, based on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). WWDACT is a Disabled
    People’s Organisation (DPO), governed by women with disabilities, and its proposals and recommendations to government are consistent with Article 4(3), and Article 29 of CRPD which outline the imperative for consultation.

    In the ACT, there are 32,600 women with a disability, who make up 52.5% of the population of people with disabilities, and 8.5% of the total population of the ACT (Australia Bureau of Statistics, Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers Australia, 2015). Many women with disabilities do not know about their reproductive rights. This arises from their limited access to sexual health education or information about reproduction, contraception, respectful relationships and sexuality. This is a barrier to them forming safe sexual relationships. Both young and adult women who have a learning disability which affects their decision-making, may be further compromised in exercising choice about contraception when third parties make decisions on their behalf. It is time to
    empower people with disabilities by granting them equal access to society and having control over any needed medical treatment.

    You can read the full report below.

    WWDACT-Contraception-and-Consent-Final-ReportDownload report