Violence and persons with visual impairment

Nasilje je ozbiljan društveni problem kojim se krše temeljna ljudska prava. Osobe oštećena vida, u usporedbi s osobama bez invaliditeta, zbog specifičnosti svog oštećenja izložene su mu u većoj mjeri. Prema vrsti, ono se dijeli na: fizičko, seksualno, psihičko (emocionalno), verbalno, financijsko (ekonomsko), strukturalno nasilje te zanemarivanje od strane skrbnika ili njegovatelja. U kojem god obliku bilo počinjeno, ono će uvijek izazvati značajne zdravstvene, socijalne i druge negativne posljedice kod žrtve. Cilj ovog diplomskog rada pregled je dosadašnjih znanstvenih i stručnih spoznaja o osobama oštećena vida kao žrtvama, ali i počiniteljima nasilja, zatim o počiniteljima nasilja nad osobama oštećena vida, preprekama s kojima se susreću žrtve u prijavljivanju nasilja te strategijama za njegovu prevenciju. Osobe oštećena vida najčešće su izložene nasilju od strane ljudi u svojoj socijalnoj mreži poput supružnika, skrbnika, članova obitelji, osobnih asistenata te medicinskih i drugih stručnjaka. Iako su češće žrtve, događa se i da uslijed nemogućnosti zadovoljavanja vlastitih potreba one same postanu počinitelji uglavnom psihičkog, ali i verbalnog nasilja na internetu. Prepreke s kojima se susreću prilikom prijavljivanja nasilja mogu se podijeliti na one koje doživljavaju na osobnoj razini, formalnoj razini, zbog ovisnosti o podršci odnosno počinitelju nasilja te fizičke prepreke koje se odnose na pristupačnost. Kako bi se nasilje uspješno preveniralo, potrebno je raditi na unapređenju i edukaciji ljudi o tome kako ga prepoznati, spriječiti i/ili zaustaviti. Posebno je važno povećati znanje i svijest o osobama oštećena vida, ali i raditi na osnaživanju njih samih kako bi se mogle uspješno boriti protiv nasilja. U Republici Hrvatskoj, ono je regulirano trima najvažnijim zakonima, a to su Zakon o potvrđivanju Konvencije o pravima osoba s invaliditetom i Fakultativnog protokola uz Konvenciju o pravima osoba s invaliditetom, Zakon o zaštiti od nasilja u obitelji te Kazneni zakon. Na kraju ovog rada nalazi se popis izvora pomoći kojima se osobe oštećena vida mogu obratiti u slučaju izloženosti nasilju te primjeri dobre prakse.Violence is a serious social problem that violates fundamental human rights. Persons with visual impairment, compared to persons without disabilities, are exposed to it to a greater extent due to the specificity of their impairment. According to type, it is divided into: physical, sexual, psychological (emotional), verbal, financial (economic), structural violence and neglect by carers. In whatever form it was committed, it will always cause significant health, social and other negative consequences for the victim. The aim of this paper is to review the current scientific and professional knowledge about visually impaired persons as victims, but also as perpetrators of violence, perpetrators of violence against visually impaired persons, barriers that victims face in reporting violence and strategies for its prevention. Persons with visual impairment are most often exposed to violence by people in their social network, such as spouses, carers, family members, personal assistants, medical and other professionals. Although they are more often victims, it also happens that due to the inability of meeting their own needs, they themselves become the perpetrators of mostly psychological, but also verbal violence on the Internet. The barriers they face when reporting violence can be divided into those they experience on a personal level, a formal level, due to dependence on support or the perpetrator of violence, and physical obstacles related to accessibility. In order to successfully prevent violence, it is necessary to work on improving and educating people on how to recognize, prevent and/or stop it. It is especially important to increase knowledge and awareness of persons with visual impairment, but also to empower them so that they can successfully fight against violence. In Croatia, violence is regulated by the three most important laws – the Law on Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Law on Protection from Domestic Violence and the Criminal Law. At the end of this paper, there is a list of sources of help that persons with visual impairment can turn to in case of exposure to violence, as well as examples of good practice