When Dependency Exists Without Safeguards
Amplify series
This signed video includes elements of British Sign Language and Sign Supported English (SSE), alongside English subtitles to support accessibility across Deaf and hearing audiences.
This video may require cookies to load. If it doesn’t appear, it may be due to your browser settings.
Dependency is often treated as part of the system, not something that needs protection.
Dependency is built into how many access systems are designed.
When people rely on others for communication, timing, or interpretation, that dependency is not neutral. It shapes power, control, and risk.
Without safeguards, dependency becomes unstable. Boundaries blur. Consent becomes harder to assess. Discomfort is absorbed instead of addressed.
This is not about individual intent. It is about how systems are structured.
When policies assume goodwill instead of building protection, responsibility becomes unclear. Those with less power carry more risk, while oversight remains limited or absent.
Access often creates necessary dependency. But when that dependency is not recognised as a safeguarding issue, vulnerability is designed into the system itself.
Supported autonomy requires structure, not assumption.
What safeguards are built into systems where dependency is unavoidable?
