Co-Designing Peer Support for Women Labelled With Intellectual Disabilities Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence.

The symposium used purposive and snowball sampling from team networks, so the participants were not a representative sample of women with intellectual disabilities, service providers or researchers. All women with lived expertise identified as heterosexual and as women, so the co-design did not capture experiences of other groups. The online format excluded people who did not want to participate virtually or lacked resources to do so. Some women with lived expertise said the virtual setting made it hard to connect with peers and that three half-day sessions were not enough time. The paper reports co-design themes and terms of reference, not a trial of peer support. The sample included 7 women with lived expertise, 18 service providers and 9 researchers, and the paper notes organisational cultures that overrepresent nondisabled providers and researchers as a barrier.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada funded the work.

Do not read this as evidence that peer support works for women with intellectual disabilities who have experienced sexual violence. The paper reports co-design themes and terms of reference from a symposium.