IRIS recently completed a community-driven access to justice initiative (https://irisinstitute.ca/resource/access-to-justice-for-indigenous-and-racialized-victims-and-survivors-of-crime-with-intellectual-psychosocial-and-cognitive-disabilities/) and hosted an online forum “Access to Justice for Marginalized People with Disabilities” (https://irisinstitute.ca/2020/12/11/panel-presentation-videos-access-to-justice-for-indigenous-racialized-and-2slgbtq-people-with-disabilities/).  

A key finding our many years of work in this area is that law enforcement is not well equipped to effectively support people with psychosocial, intellectual and cognitive disabilities in times of crisis; yet appropriate community supports do not exist for people in crisis situations. Further, our local partners demonstrate that if we are to effectively address the issue of preventing violence and increasing access to justice services for marginalized people with disabilities, we need to develop community-based solutions that are designed and delivered by grassroots service providers.