Disability abuse

Disability abuse is when a person with a disability is abused physically, financially, sexually and/or
psychologically due to the person having a disability. Disability abuse has also been considered a hate
crime.[1] The abuse is not limited to those who are visibly disabled such as wheelchair-users or physically
deformed such as those with a cleft lip, but also those with learning, intellectual, and developmental
disabilities as well as mental illnesses.

Contents
Risk factors for abuse
Forms of abuse
Bullying
Sexual abuse
Impacts of abuse
Current policies and research
See also
References
Further reading

Risk factors for abuse

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) persons with disabilities make up around 15% of the
world's population, children with disabilities are three times more likely to face violence than non-disabled
and there is an approximate 50% increased risk of experiencing violence for adults with mental health
conditions.[2]

Persons with disabilities are attractive victims for predators as they may not have the resources and abilities
to escape an abusive situation or communicate on the occurrences. Those living with hard of hearing or
being deaf are placed at twice the risk for neglect and emotional abuse in comparison to other disabilities
and nearly four times in regards to physical abuse.[3]

Abuse can occur in multiple ways, most commonly seen as physical, emotional, or sexual. Those in the
disability population tend to be at higher risk due to lacking skills and experiences to protect themselves.
Examples include: deficits in communication, limited social environment, disempowerment, and intimate
contact required for hygiene dependency.[4]  Further, as there can be tendencies for caretakers to
overprotect individuals during their youth, they can more easily be exploited due to a lack of preparation. In
facets such as school there is often a lack of efficient sex education for youth with disabilities and in
combination of improper training for professionals working with these children, risks increase.[3] Notably
there also tends to be overlap between abuse and neglect as childhood care often results in full dependency
on care providers due to need for assistance throughout daily activities.[5]
A community-based participatory research study to assess abuse and current physical and mental health of
350 members within varying disabilities found a significant correlation with depressive symptoms and
significant relations between childhood abuse and depression, PTSD, and negative physical health
outcomes in adulthood. The main finding was that interaction of childhood and adult abuse predicted
increased negative physical and psychological health rates for those with developmental disabilities.[5]

Forms of abuse

Bullying

A 2012 survey by the Interactive Autism Network found that 63% of children with autism are bullied in the
United States.[6] Over a third of autistic adults said they had been bullied at work in a survey by the UK's
National Autistic Society.[7]

82% of children with a learning disability in the UK are bullied, according to Mencap, and 79% are scared
to go out in case they are bullied.[8]

A survey that was done shows that roughly seven out of ten people with disabilities have been abused, and
that it is an ongoing problem.[9] It was found that bullying people with disabilities is a problem in various
other countries, and lacks attention.[9]

Bullying is not always physical. Verbal bullying and non-verbal bullying occur often. Catherine Thornberry
and Karin Olson claim that carers often dehumanize disabled people, taking away their abilities and
qualities that make them a person and lowering them to the level of just an object or a thing. They found
that the caregivers or assistants are often the ones who are unintentionally bullying the disabled individuals.
The caregivers look at the individuals at lower standard than they do other people, leading to Thornberry
and Olson labeling of disabled individuals as a hate crime.[10]

Sexual abuse

According to Valenti-Hein & Schwartz, only 3% of sexual abuse cases involving developmentally disabled
people are ever reported, more than 90% of developmentally disabled people will experience sexual abuse
at some point in their lives, and 49% will experience 10 or more abusive incidents.[11]

A study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry by Sequeira, Howlin, & Hollins found that sexual
abuse is associated with a higher incidence of psychiatric and behavioural disorder in people with learning
disabilities in a case-control study. Sexual abuse was associated with increased rates of mental illness and
behavioural problems, and with symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Psychological reactions to abuse were
similar to those observed in the general population, but with the addition of stereotypical behavior. The
more serious the abuse, the more severe the symptoms that were reported.[12]

Sexual abuse is less likely to be reported by individuals with disabilities. The people that surround these
individuals are often found to be less likely to report these cases of abuse. Society sees disabled people as
weak and vulnerable targets, making it easy for the abuser to not feel guilty or to blame themselves. More
often than not people figure they can trust their physicians or doctors who provide care for these
individuals. In a clinical study it was found that the physicians would provide poor quality of care to
individuals with disabilities. They would suppress the problems instead of addressing them by giving them
drugs to make them be quiet. It was also found that physicians were less likely to report sexual abuse or any
abuse that they found present on these individuals. They justified these actions by believing that in society
that disabled people matter less than any other person.[13]
Impacts of abuse
There was one study done that shows 60 percent of the children with disabilities come forth about being
bullied regularly, versus 25 percent of the students who are being bullied with no disabilities.[14] This can
also affect their learning and school and education. Their grades are more at risk in dropping, they have a
more difficult time concentrating, and there is no interest in school and the learning material. All of this can
lead to the child dropping out of school.[15]

Current policies and research

There are policies such as Article 16 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With
Disabilities which calls for appropriate measures needed to protect all persons with disabilities in all
locations, from all forms of abuse. WHO made a statement emphasizing poor public health surveillance of
child maltreatment across the world which has been conveyed through examples such as the Adverse
Childhood Experience questionnaire[3] which has been used to gain better understanding of the prevalence
of abuse occurring worldwide, but comparisons can be challenging due to differing policies between
regions.

Additional policies like the United States Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act passed in 1974 and
reauthorized in 2019 created a state-based child abuse reporting and response system that requires
professionals to be legally mandated to make a government report if a child alludes to the possibility of
abuse or neglect to see if an investigation is needed.[3]

See also
Ableism
Developmental disability abuse and vulnerability
Disability hate crime
Institutional abuse
Sexual abuse of people with developmental disabilities
Violence against people with disabilities
Disability draft

References
1. Quarmby, Katharine. "Scapegoat: Why we are failing disabled people (https://books.google.
com/books?id=yIJh7Z0AG84C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage)". Portobello, 2011.
2. Mikton, Christopher; Maguire, Holly; Shakespeare, Tom (2014-11-01). "A Systematic Review
of the Effectiveness of Interventions to Prevent and Respond to Violence Against Persons
With Disabilities" (https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514534530). Journal of Interpersonal
Violence. 29 (17): 3207–3226. doi:10.1177/0886260514534530 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F
0886260514534530). ISSN 0886-2605 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0886-2605).
PMID 24870959 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24870959). S2CID 25563313 (https://api.s
emanticscholar.org/CorpusID:25563313).
3. Palusci, Vincent J. (2011), "Epidemiology of Sexual Abuse" (https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/b978
-1-4160-6393-3.00003-8), Child Abuse and Neglect, Elsevier, pp. 16–22, doi:10.1016/b978-
1-4160-6393-3.00003-8 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fb978-1-4160-6393-3.00003-8),
ISBN 9781416063933, retrieved 2021-12-18
 4. Wilczynski, Susan M.; Connolly, Sarah; Dubard, Melanie; Henderson, Amanda; Mcintosh,
David (2015). "Assessment, Prevention, and Intervention for Abuse Among Individuals with
Disabilities" (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/pits.21808). Psychology in the
Schools. 52 (1): 9–21. doi:10.1002/pits.21808 (https://doi.org/10.1002%2Fpits.21808).
ISSN 1520-6807 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1520-6807).
5. Hughes, Rosemary B.; Robinson-Whelen, Susan; Raymaker, Dora; Lund, Emily M.;
Oschwald, Mary; Katz, Marsha; Starr, Albert; Ashkenazy, Elesia; Powers, Laurie E.;
Nicolaidis, Christina; Hughes, Rosemary B. (2019-04-01). "The relation of abuse to physical
and psychological health in adults with developmental disabilities" (https://www.sciencedire
ct.com/science/article/pii/S1936657418301948). Disability and Health Journal. 12 (2): 227–
234. doi:10.1016/j.dhjo.2018.09.007 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.dhjo.2018.09.007).
ISSN 1936-6574 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1936-6574). PMID 30655190 (https://pubme
d.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30655190). S2CID 58620983 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:5
8620983).
6. "Survey finds 63% of children with autism bullied" (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-
57406540/survey-finds-63-of-children-with-autism-bullied/). CBS News.
7. Cassidy, Sarah (2012-05-14). "Autistic adults bullied and not supported at work, poll shows"
(https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/autistic-adults-bullied-and-not-support
ed-at-work-poll-shows-7743517.html). The Independent (UK). London.
8. "Eight of out 10 disabled children bullied, report finds" (https://www.theguardian.com/educati
on/2007/jun/18/schools.children). Mencap. 2007-06-18. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
9. "Survey Finds Disability Abuse Widespread" (https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2013/09/04/s
urvey-abuse-widespread/18652/). Disability Scoop. 2013-09-04. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
10. Thornberry, Catherine, and Karin Olson. "The Abuse of Individuals with Developmental
Disabilities (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ844468.pdf)." Developmental Disabilities
Bulletin 33.1-2 (n.d.): 1-19. EBSCO Host. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
11. "People with Mental Retardation & Sexual Abuse" (https://web.archive.org/web/2012031811
1318/http://www.wwild.org/Victims%20of%20Crime/Downloads/Research/Vulnerability%20
and%20Abuse%20of%20People%20with%20an%20Intellectual%20Disability/Davis%20n.
d.pdf) (PDF). by Leigh Ann Davis. Archived from the original (http://www.wwild.org/Victims%
20of%20Crime/Downloads/Research/Vulnerability%20and%20Abuse%20of%20People%2
0with%20an%20Intellectual%20Disability/Davis%20n.d.pdf) (PDF) on 2012-03-18.
12. Sequeira, H, Howlin, P, Hollins, S (2003). "Psychological disturbance associated with
sexual abuse in people with learning disabilities. Case-control study" (https://doi.org/10.119
2%2Fbjp.183.5.451). British Journal of Psychiatry. 183 (5): 451–456.
doi:10.1192/bjp.183.5.451 (https://doi.org/10.1192%2Fbjp.183.5.451). PMID 14594922 (http
s://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14594922).
13. Ryan, Ruth; Salbenblatt, James; Schiappacasse, Joseph; Maly, Bernard (2001). "Physician
unwitting participation in abuse and neglect of persons with developmental disabilities".
Community Mental Health Journal. 37 (6): 499–509. doi:10.1023/A:1017526112637 (https://
doi.org/10.1023%2FA%3A1017526112637). PMID 11504143 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.g
ov/11504143). S2CID 34002240 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:34002240).
14. "Top 10 facts parents, educators, and Students need to Know" (http://www.pacer.org/bullyin
g/resources/students-with-disabilities/). Bullying and Harassment of Students with
Disabilities.
15. "Top 10 facts parents. educators, and students need to know" (http://www.pacer.org/bullying/r
esources/students-with-disabilities/). National Bullying prevention center.

Further reading
 Baumhoefner, Arlen Financial Abuse of the Deaf And Hard of Hearing Exposed (2006)
Fitzsimons, Nancy M. & Sobsey, Dick Combating Violence & Abuse of People With
Disabilities: A Call to Action (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/1366825090350
4527?journalCode=cjid20) (2009)

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