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It's important to know the facts about sexual violence even if it's an uncomfortable topic. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, an American is sexually assaulted every 73 seconds. Every nine minutes, that victim is a child.
But here's something you probably didn't know: Many of these victims are people with disabilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines sexual violence as "sexual activity when consent is not obtained or freely given" — which means individuals with disabilities, who often rely on others for their daily needs, are often the most vulnerable for these crimes.
A 'hidden epidemic'
A 2009–2014 National Crime Victimization Survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that people with disabilities were more than three times more likely than people without disabilities to experience serious violent crime, such as rape or sexual assault.
More recently, in 2018, NPR's Investigations Unit reported that people with disabilities were seven times more likely to experience sexual assault than people without disabilities.
"We are calling this an epidemic of sexual assault," NPR's Joseph Shapiro said at the time. "These people are at risk all the time in their group homes, at school, at work, in the vans that take them to those places. Our numbers show they're more likely than others to be sexually assaulted by someone they know."
The sobering statistics continue with other sources reporting similar information. It's well known that sexual violence affects more women than men, but the numbers are even more staggering when it comes to people with disabilities.
According to the Disability Justice Resource Center, around 80% of women and 30% of men with developmental disabilities have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Of those women, half have been assaulted more than 10 times. Another study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that women with disabilities were four times more likely to be sexually assaulted or abused than women without disabilities.
However, men with disabilities are not exempt from this abuse. Another study published on PubMed Central found that rates of sexual violence against men with disabilities exceeded the rate for women in some years.
Perhaps most shocking of all is that the Disability Justice Resource Center states that only 3% of sexual abuse cases involving victims with developmental disabilities will be reported.
Want to help? Take this survey
As you can see, there's ample evidence showing that sexual violence against people with disabilities is a pervasive problem that needs to be addressed.
If these statistics hit close to home, there's something you can do to help. A lack of education about what healthy relationship looks like and how to give consent leads to some of these problems. Individuals with disabilities, their caregivers, and service providers are often left out of these crucial conversations.
The Utah Developmental Disabilities Council and the Institute for Disability Research, Policy and Practice are hoping to gather information via an online survey. The hope is to assess awareness and training needs within the state around the topic of sexuality, healthy relationships and consent for adults with disabilities. Survey responses will help them provide the most useful resources to address this issue.
People who have developmental disabilities or people who care for or work with people who have disabilities are eligible to participate in this survey. To access the survey, click on this link and follow the instructions. It only takes about 10 minutes to complete and will help shape the future prevention and response to empower people who are most at risk.
