This guide is a result of many years of anti-violence applied research and community development initiatives that the Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society (IRIS) has been involved with over the last three decades. Specifically, the information in this guide builds on access to justice resources developed in the late 1990s through to 2019; a project called Our Right to be Safe, led by the DisAbled Women’s Network Canada and Inclusion Canada (formerly the Canadian Association for Community Living); and, most recently, the Working Together: Combating Structural Violence against Indigenous, Racialized, Migrant Women and Women Labeled with Intellectual and Psychiatric Disabilities project.

The objective of this guide is to act as a resource for anti-violence service providers to learn about the nature and impact of, and barriers to, seeking help for diverse people with disabilities and Deaf people who experience and are at risk of violence, so that they can proactively address these issues within the context of their service provision and in the community as a whole.