
Project funded by the European Women’s Lobby
Project on violence against autistic people in Europe
This project intended to map autistic people’s experiences of violence.
This project developed a survey to gather data on different types of violence against autistic people, condut a literature review, develop factsheets and a report on the subject. The aim is to organize and make available information on violence against autistic people, in particular on gender-based violence (see project announcement post).
What did this project covered:
- 16 Days of Activism awareness campaign
- Survey with 259 autistic people on their experiences with:
- Different types of violence and context it happened
- Accessing or trying to access reporting services (e.g. police, court, etc.);
- Accessing or trying to access support services (e.g. domestic violence shelters, mental health services, etc.)
- eBook on experiences of violence
- Full detailed report on results with literature review (to be published soon)
We hope that the results will provide useful information for autistic people’s organisations and communities, policymakers and legislators, as well as reporting and victim’s support services to prevent and improve support of autistic victims of violence. EUCAP will use the results to improve the capacity of its members to advocate on the theme, and to increase general awareness of the types of violence being perpetrated against autistic people.
Trigger warning: this project, and especially the project results, has mentions and descriptions of violence that some readers might find distressing.
Questions or comments?
You can contact the survey team by sending an email to sara.rocha@eucap.eu
Results
16 Days of Activism awareness campaign on violence against autistic people
Webinars
Webinar on Autism Acceptance Day, April 2nd
Publishing of the eBook ‘Stories beyond violence’, an anthology on personal stories of autistic people victims of violence.
Webinar International Women’s March 8th
Preliminary survey results and presentation on working with Neurodivergent Victims of Sexual Violence by Dr. Sudy Ridout
The team

Sara is a Data Manager in Public Health research for the University of Cambridge. She represents EUCAP in the European Disability Forum Women’s Committee.

Heta is the President of EUCAP and involved in advocacy for the past 25 years. She studied biology at the University of Helsinki and special education for autistic adults at the University of Birmingham.

Svea works in the field of sexual violence prevention. She has been involved with disability-related topics since University and holds a Master’s Degree in Educational Rehabilitation.

Joana has been working for over 10 years with autistic people, promoting their inclusion, self-representation and self-determination. She is currently a PhD student in the field of Gender Studies.
Consultants

Conference speaker and trainer in Sexual Violence and Neurodiversity and has published widely on the subject. In addition, she sits on a survivor steering group. Susy is currently in the process of establishing a Community Interest Company for Autistic and Neurodivergent Survivors.