Not Good Enough

This past week I was fortunate enough to attend a conference about abuse of people with disabilities. It was meant to be a conference focused on hope and what is happening to protect those who are at highest risk of abuse. The feeling that I was overwhelmed with at the end of the conference is that while there are good things that are happening in the field of protection and social work, it is not good enough.

It is not good enough when the response to sexual assault and rape is that it can't be "that bad" for someone who doesn't always understand what is happening.

It is not good enough when women are not able to leave abusive situations because of lack of resources.

It is not good enough when abuse is justified by the idea that people with disabilities are "less than."

It is not good enough when we respond by saying we don't know what to do.

What we have now is not "good enough." What we have now is not even marginally acceptable. What we have can change and it will change. However long it takes, it will change because to leave it the way it is now is not good enough.