1. ABUSE OF
INDIVIDUALS WITH
DISABILITIES
Dr. Sara Plummer

2. OVERVIEW
 Prevalence
 Types of abuse
 Risk factors
 Screening

3. PREVALENCE
 Individuals with disabilities experience abuse at
similar or increased rates
 Life time rates of abuse 62% for both individuals with
disabilities and general population (Young, et al. , 1997)
 In a study of physical and sexual abuse, physical rates
were equal and sexual abuse was 4 times higher for
individuals with disabilities (Martin, et al, 2006)
 In a study of over 1000 women in family practice
clinics, those who reported experiencing abuse were 2
times more likely to report having a disabilities
 Studies also suggest that women with disabilities
experience abuse for longer periods of time and by
more perpetrators

4. PREVALENCE
 The research does not truly estimate the
prevalence due to lack of:
 Screening
 Outreach
 Accessible services
 Noattempt to seek services since little to none are
available

5. TYPES OF ABUSE
 Individuals with disabilities suffer from multiple
forms of abuse
 Physical, sexual, emotional, economic
 Also experience disability related abuse
 Denying access to mobility devices
 Preventing them from accessing medical care
 Neglecting personal care
 Withholding medications

6. EXAMPLES OF DISABILITY RELATED
ABUSE
 Refusal to aid in toileting
 Over or under-medication
 Breaking communication and mobility devices
 Wheelchair, TTY, pager, prosthetic limb
 Moving furniture in a home of a visually
impaired person
 Taking away a prosthetic limb
 Mistreating service animals

7. EXAMPLES OF DISABILITY
RELATED ABUSE
 Force the person to allow them to become the
representative payee
 Threatening to report them to DYFS
 Historically courts have ruled against women with
disabilities
 Threatening to institutionalize them

8. RISK FACTORS
 Some suggest having a disability in this world
immediately places that person at risk
 Research has suggested some specific risk factors

9. ISOLATION
 Isolation creates a barrier to support and services
 Individuals who are less mobile, and more socially
isolated have a higher likelihood of experienced
abuse (Nosek et al, 2006)
 Isolation can be a result of
 Lack of accessibility
 Lack of mobility
 Social isolation
 Lack of transportation

10. PERPETRATORS
 Individuals with disabilities are exposed to
multiple potential abusers
 This population is at risk by the sheer number of
people they come into contact with
 Intimate partners
 Family members
 Health care providers
 PAS workers
 Ambulance drivers

11. PERPETRATORS
o Intimate partners are the most commonly
identified perpetrators of domestic violence
including husbands and live in partners
o Perpetrators of sexual violence are most often
people they come into daily contact with but not
people they live with
 Most often men are identified as the perpetrator

12. PERPETRATORS IN RELATIONSHIPS
 Certain predatory individuals may view a
romantic relationship with a person with a
disability as an opportunity for exploitation,
mistreatment and abuse
 An individual may specifically target individuals
they believe to be vulnerable and intentionally
seek out individuals they believe they can
exploit, mistreat and abuse
 The expectation may be that the woman will not
be believed if she reports abuse
 Which is often the case
 Less likely to resist or fight back

13. PERPETRATORS – FAMILY
 Family members – parents and siblings who have
limited patience or regard for the individual may
become abusive
 Some parental relationships become strained due
to the additional needs of a child with a disability
– the child is then blamed for the break down in
the marriage and in turn abused or neglected
 Siblings may become jealous due to the added
attention the child receives as a result of the
disability and may act out towards the child

14. PERPETRATORS – SERVICE
PROVIDERS
(PAS, HEALTHCARE WORKERS, GROUP HOME
WORKER)
 The nature of the relationship between individual and
worker is viewed as a risk factor
 Ongoing contact (many hours in the home, time spent in
day treatment programs, etc)
 Intimate nature of contact (bathing, toileting)
 Blurring of boundaries (worker vs. friend/partner)
 Perpetrators may enter the field in order to specifically
target this population
 Perceived vulnerabilities and opportunities

15. DEPENDENCY
• Perpetrators may have the role of both partner
and primary caregiver
• Physical, emotional and financial dependency
may increase the risk of abuse and limit one’s
ability to leave
• This creates a dichotomous and confusing
relationship of abuser and caregiver
 An abused individual will be fearful of losing their
source of daily care
 As a result the abused individual may feel he or she
needs to compromise or accept the abuse to continue to
receive the benefits of the relationship (Hassouneth –
Phillips, 2005)

16. LACK OF IDENTIFICATION
 Abuse against individuals with disabilities often goes
unrecognized
 Due to nature of abuse which often targets the
person’s disability
 These behaviors are often not defined as abuse by
state laws
 The person often does not realize the behavior is
abusive

17. LACK OF IDENTIFICATION
 May not tell others for fear of disbelief
 People don’t want to believe this occurs so will dismiss it
 The person accused is viewed as an upstanding citizen, may
be a person of authority
 People with disabilities are historically not seen as reliable
sources of information
 Lack of knowledge about victimization
 Do not know who to contact
 There are not many places to go for help

18. SYSTEM AND CULTURAL BARRIERS
 Lack of accessible resources
 Lack of accessibility
 Limited physical access
 No interpreters
 Attitudinal barriers
• Disability organizations in general have lack of information
and resources on abuse
• Lack of capacity to address issue (screening, resources, referral)
• Historically attempts at seeking help has been met with
insensitivity
• Lack of coordinated response – disability and DV or SA

19. SYSTEM AND CULTURAL BARRIERS
 Oppression and devaluation of women with disabilities
 Ableist and sexist view points
 Negative valuations of individuals with disabilities
 Seen as less than (not the ideal female form)

20. SYSTEM AND CULTURAL BARRIERS
 Discrimination and oppression become internalized
 Creates self devaluation and poor self esteem
 Women with disabilities report overall high rates of
low self esteem (Gilson, DePoy, & Cramer, 2001)
 Thistranslates in a fear of being alone
 Doubts another partner would want to be with them
 Lack of worthiness around being in a relationship
 May blame themselves for the abuse

21. TIPS FOR SERVING SURVIVORS
WITH DISABILITIES
 Screening
 Always screen for abuse
 There remains a lack of screening across disciplines

22. SCREENING
 You can begin to screen all clients who you encounter
 Has anyone ever hit, slapped, kicked, pushed, shoved, or
otherwise physical hurt by someone?
 Has anyone ever forced you to engage in sexual activities?
 Has anyone ever threatened, intimidated, coerced or
manipulated you to do things you did not wish to do, done or
said anything to make you feel fearful, or humiliated, overly
criticized, or bullied you?
 * it is important to ask about lifetime history and current
history (i.e. within the last year or 6 months)

23. SCREENING
 Then ask disability related abuse questions
 Has anyone prevented you from using a wheelchair, cane,
respirator, or other assistive devices?
 Has anyone you depend on refused to help you with an
important personal need, such as taking your medicine,
getting to the bathroom, getting out of bed, getting dressed, or
getting food or drink?
 Within the last year, did someone take your SSI or SSD check,
a paycheck, or financial aid check without your permission,
refuse to allow you to access your bank account, or restrict
your use of money, a debit or credit card?