Our new report, ‘Services for who?’, is the culmination of a 2 year DRILL funded research project which explored the experiences of disabled people with other characteristics when accessing services. We spoke to disabled people and service providers to try to understand whether disabled people’s experiences of discrimination are about more than just being a disabled person.
Disabled people told us that the discrimination they experience when accessing services is complicated and doesn’t happen only because they’re a disabled person. More than half (60%) of respondents to our survey said that they were treated unfairly because they’re a disabled person AND have another characteristic(s). For example, because they are a disabled woman or a disabled gay person. This is called intersectional discrimination.
Disabled people with other characteristics told us that they experience denial of choice, control and person-centred services because of their intersectional identity – in particular people are not listened to by professionals, are not given access to information about what they are entitled to, have to deal with inaccessible systems and processes and experience bullying and invasive questioning from service providers.
Many of the experiences disabled people told us about were underpinned by negative attitudes and assumptions and a lack of knowledge and understanding on the part of service providers.
Please read our report to find out more:
Services for who – final report (Word Doc.)
Services for who – final report (PDF)
Services for who – Findings summary (Word Doc)
Services for who – Findings summary (PDF)
