If anyone should know it’s Women with Disabilities Victoria (WWDV) program manager Sharon Granek.

Speaking at the South West Regional Carers Conference in Warrnambool yesterday, Ms Granek said she would not let her disability define her — rather, it was just one of the many parts that made up the woman she was.

“I think it’s made me a better person,” she said. 

“It’s made me see the world in a different way.

“What I try and do now is encourage women with disabilities to see their disability as a positive.

“See the woman, see the person, don’t just see the disability.”

Ms Granek said the National Disability Insurance Scheme would provide many positives for women with a disability but there needed to be a number of checks and balances in place to ensure women remained safe.

She said women with disabilities were often targeted by predatory ‘carers’ or were the victims of abuse, including financial abuse and controlling behaviours.

“I need to know who’s coming into my house,” Ms Granek said.

“I want to know what the service is doing to make sure their worker has been through some checks and balances.”

Ms Granek said research conducted by WWDV into violence against women with disabilities showed the abuse had become so “normal” for some women that they weren’t even aware they’d been victims of abuse.

She said a study in Canada found that 90 per cent of women with an intellectual disability had been sexually abused and data showed in Australia between 70 to 90 per cent of women with a disability had been sexually abused.

“That’s just appalling and we have to do something about it,” she said.

She said the NDIS was a chance to ensure the needs of women with a disability were met.

“Our members are telling us they want to feel safe, they want to know who to trust and they want to know where to go when things go wrong,” she said.

“It’s having a choice. We need to make sure women with disabilities can make informed choices.

“A lot of staff are doing personal care and that’s a really intimate relationship. They want to know what training that person has had.

“Have they undergone a police check?

“We need to ensure the dignity of women with a disability is always maintained.”

WWDV is a not for profit organisation run by and for women with disabilities.

WWDV will hold a five-day Enabling Women Leadership Program for Warrnambool women with a disability in June.

There will be an information session about the program on Thursday, April 30 from 2pm at the Archie Graham centre. To RSVP or for more information contact Cath McNamara on 03 9286 7810 or email cath.mcnamara@wdv.org.au