Violence against people with disabilities

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Final Report Family Violence - A National Legal Response 2010

[24.32] Many studies have documented the increased vulnerability to physical and sexual violence of people with disabilities. As with other groups of women, there is a dearth of statistics that document the extent of sexual violence. This is in part linked to the failure of existing data collection surveys and service providers, including the police, to identify the disability status of participants. However, one study has found that 90% of women with intellectual disabilities have been sexually abused; and 68% of women with an intellectual disability will be subjected to sexual abuse before they reach 18 years of age. This prevalence is consistent with overseas studies.

Download: Final Report Family Violence - A National Legal Response 2010

Source: Australian Law Reform Commission

Building the Evidence: A report on the status of policy and practice in responding to violence against women with disabilities in Victoria 2008

A substantial body of literature indicates that women are at much greater risk of domestic violence and sexual assault than women without, and are more vulnerable to institutionalised forms of violence.

Brownridge (2006) (cited in Healey, Howe, Humphreys, Jennings, Julian (2008)) found women with disabilities had 40% greater likelihood of experiencing violence in the previous five years than women without disabilities, and that the violence they experienced was more likely to be severe.

Young, Nosek, Howland and Rintala (cited in Healey, Howe, Humphreys, Jennings, Julian (2008)) found that women with and without disabilities had a lifetime prevalence of experiencing abuse of 62%, and that women with physical disabilities experienced physical or sexual abuse for longer than women without.

Download: Building the Evidence: A report on the status of policy and practice in responding to violence against women with disabilities in Victoria 2008 ( 448Kb )

Source: Women's Health Victoria

Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003

• 221 victims (26.5 % of overall sample) were identified as having a disability.
• 130 (15.6% of overall sample) had a psychiatric disability or a mental health issue.
• 49 (6% of overall sample) were identified as having an intellectual disability.
• Police Members' were more likely to express some degree of disbelief in relation to cases where the victim was identified as having a psychiatric disability (40% compared with 20.6 percent in the overall sample).
• Cases involving victims with a psychiatric disability were the least likely to result in charges being laid, despite being more often characterised by factors associated with the case proceeding (ie. multiple offences).
• Victims identified as having an intellectual disability were less likely to be assaulted by strangers (10.2% compared with 16% of overall sample) and more likely to be an "other known person" (53.1% compared to 20% for overall sample)
• Victims identified as having an intellectual disability were more likely to report more than one incident (30.6% compared to 20.7% for the total sample).
• In 18.8% of cases where victims were identified as having an intellectual disability charges were laid, compared with 15% for the overall sample.

Download: Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003 ( 448Kb )

Source: The Office of Women's Policy (OWP)

Related reports

Triple Disadvantage - Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Violence Against Women with Disabilities Project, Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria, 2003

Download: Triple Disadvantage - Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Violence Against Women with Disabilities Project 2003 ( 153Kb )

Source: Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria

This is not an exhaustive list of research in the area of family violence and sexual assault, merely a starting point. As the locations of web pages often change, many of these reports have been made available through this page to assist readers. Please note that these pdfs may not contain the latest version or any recent changes so it is recommended that researchers check the author's website for updates, suplements or amendments. All published details correct as at Sept 2011.

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