Recently, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador declared gender-based violence an epidemic in the province. This is a significant and long-overdue acknowledgement of the scale and seriousness of gender-based violence in NL, and of the urgent need for coordinated, sustained action. The announcement included the creation of a 12-member task force that will bring together government representatives and community advocates to develop recommendations for moving beyond crisis response toward prevention, accountability, and systemic change. Importantly, the task force is intended to centre lived experience and community expertise.
This announcement comes as our CARES Lab team has published a new article in Qualitative Social Work titled, “‘I survived him. He did everything he could to destroy me.’: A phenomenological study of gender-based violence experienced by disabled women in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
Why this study matters
Disabled women experience disproportionately high rates of gender-based violence, yet their experiences are often overlooked in research, policy, and service responses. In Newfoundland and Labrador, where gender-based violence has now been formally recognized as an epidemic, it is especially important that disability is not treated as an afterthought.
Our study explored the experiences of disabled women in Newfoundland and Labrador who had experienced gender-based violence. Participants identified with a range of disabilities. We explored how participants made sense of their experiences, the social conditions that shaped those experiences, and the ways violence affected their lives, relationships, safety, autonomy, and access to support.
What we found
Participants described how disability itself was often weaponized in experiences of violence. Some women were targeted because of perceived vulnerability, while others described how their access needs, support systems, pain, mobility, communication, mental health, or dependence on others were used against them.
The study also shows that gender-based violence does not happen in isolation. Participants’ experiences were shaped by ableism, male entitlement, community silence, institutional betrayal, and social norms that too often minimize or normalize harm against disabled women.
For many participants, violence had lasting impacts on health, disability, identity, relationships, financial security, and community connection. Several described how violence deepened isolation and created barriers to safety, support, and justice.
At the same time, participants’ stories also reflected resistance, survival, and deep knowledge about what needs to change. Their experiences point to the importance of building responses that are not only trauma-informed, but also disability-affirming, accessible, intersectional, and grounded in lived experience.
What needs to happen next
As Newfoundland and Labrador moves forward with a provincial task force and renewed public attention to gender-based violence, disability must be meaningfully included in prevention, response, policy, and service planning.
This means asking:
- How do disabled women experience gender-based violence?
- How are ableism and gender-based violence connected?
- Are shelters, legal systems, health services, counselling supports, and reporting pathways accessible?
- Are disabled survivors believed, supported, and offered meaningful choices?
- Are disability organizations, disabled advocates, and disabled survivors included in decision-making?
Disabled women have been naming these issues for a long time. Our hope is that this study contributes to a broader conversation about gender-based violence in Newfoundland and Labrador. One that recognizes disability not as a side issue, but as central to understanding safety, justice, and prevention.
Article information
Goulden, A., Ponsoni, J. G. O., Lewis, V., Lipa, I. J., & Baird, S. L. (2026). “‘I survived him. He did everything he could to destroy me.’: A phenomenological study of gender-based violence experienced by disabled women in Newfoundland and Labrador.” Qualitative Social Work. 0(0), 1-22.
If your organization or community group would like someone from our team to speak about the disability-specific impacts of gender-based violence, we would be happy to connect.