A research led by the Foundation Carmen Pardo-Valcarce, the Spanish Guardia Civil and the university Complutense of Madrid.
DISCOVER THE RESEARCH
This project constitutes the first initiative in Spain to tackle the problem of the vulnerability of people with intellectual disabilities (ID) to be victims of abuse and neglect and to suffer a process of secondary victimization after their referral to the Protection Services.
This vulnerability is due to the fact that the police officers and the judicial agents lack the knowledge of all those practices that must be implemented in order to accommodate and make accessible the police and judicial environment to vulnerable alleged victims. The UN Convention, ratified by Spain in 2008, oblige the public services to provide people with disabilities an “Equal recognition before the law” (article 12) and “Access to justice” (article 13). To assure these, changes in legislation and police and judicial legal proceedings must be introduced.
After a qualitative analysis of the state of the matter regarding actual criminal legislation for people with ID, barriers faced by them will be assessed in order to analyze which supports should be introduced so that the actual judicial process are aligned with the principles of the UN Convention.
PRACTICAL TOOLS
A practical guide to facilitate the action of the Spanish police was produced during this research. It has also been translated from Spanish to French, in order to present to French-speaking audiences this tool that is used by Spanish police services.
In this way, French-speaking police services will be able to benefit from a series of indications that will allow for a better intervention with the persons concerned.
These tools are available in French or Spanish only.
SCIENTIFIC OUTPUTS
- The research report
- The summary of the research
- The article "Evaluating the credibility of statements given by persons with intellectual diability"
- The document "Removing barriers for victims with intellectual disabilities. Police and court proceedings with victims with intellectual disabilities", also available in French and Spanish.
GO FURTHER...
... On this thematic
Several websites provide information on existing services to support people with intellectual disabilities who have been victims of abuse:
- http://www.respond.org.uk/ (English partner of the Pardo-Valcarce Foundation);
- http://www.idrs.org.au/home/index.php (English site on the same theme).
Ajupid research, also addressing the issue of access to justice for people with intellectual disabilities, which led to the production of a practical tool entitled "Guide to encouraging practices in legal capacity and access to justice