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Lack of Culturally Competent Programs <br />Without a deep understanding of Deaf culture and the unique cultural context of domestic and <br />sexual violence, it is difficult for advocates and counselors to effectively safety plan with Deaf <br />survivors, support Deaf survivors through the criminal or civil legal system, facilitate support <br />groups involving Deaf survivors, and provide many of the other critical services Deaf survivors <br />need in crisis and healing. Domestic violence programs and rape crisis centers cannot <br />eliminate communication and cultural barriers without gaining expertise on the Deaf <br />community, leaving Deaf survivors alone to navigate the systems involved in victims, lives on top <br />of the trauma they have experienced. The majority of hearing victim service organizations have <br />made limited efforts to create culturally competent services for Deaf survivors in their <br />organization. Domestic violence advocates and rape crisis counselors have not created <br />opportunities to build relationships with Deaf organizations and the Deaf community in their <br />service area; educate staff on Deaf culture, and domestic and sexual violence against Deaf <br />people; or develop an understanding of audism, exploring its role in the barriers Deaf survivors <br />face. Additionally, these organizations have not reviewed the accessibility of their programs to <br />identify barriers for Deaf people and nor created plans and dedicated resources to address <br />these barriers such as inaccessible emergency hotlines/helplines, limited to no outreach or <br />community engagement efforts, and the critical lack of qualified, trauma -informed <br />interpreters. <br />Continued Invisibility <br />While there is growing awareness among victim <br />service providers that they are not reaching all <br />survivors, Deaf survivors continue to be an invisible <br />community. For example, according to the 2018 <br />Reaching Victims survey conducted by Vera's <br />National Resource Center for Reaching Victims, only <br />1 in 4 victim service organizations (190, 25.03%) <br />participating in the survey identified Deaf and hard <br />of hearing individuals as underserved by their <br />aaencv/oroaram.f461 <br />23 <br />