Physical and Sexual Assault of Women With Disabilities

North Carolina women were surveyed to examine whether women's disability status was associated with their risk of being assaulted within the past year. Women's violence experiences were classified into three groups: no violence, physical assault only (without sexual assault), and sexual assault (with or without physical assault). Multivariable analysis revealed that women with disabilities were not significantly more likely than women without disabilities to have experienced physical assault alone within the past year (odds ratio [OR] = 1.18, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 0.62 to 2.27); however, women with disabilities had more than 4 times the odds of experiencing sexual assault in the past year compared to women without disabilities (OR = 4.89, 95% CI = 2.21 to 10.83)
Author: 
Martin,Sandra L.
Ray,Neepa
Sotres-Alvarez,Daniela
Kupper,Lawrence L.
Moracco,Kathryn E.
Dickens,Pamela A.
Scandlin,Donna
Gizlice,Ziya
Notes: 
10.1177/1077801206292672
Reprint Status: 
IN FILE
Start Page: 
823
End Page: 
837
Journal/Periodical Name: 
Violence Against Women
Volume: 
12
Issue: 
9
Abstract: 
This study looked at data from phone surveys completed by 5,326 women in North Carolina. Prevalence of physical, emotional, or mental disabilities was estimated at 26%. Sexual assault (forced sexual activity) was experienced by 1.5% of disabled women and 0.6% of women without disabilities in the past year. Women who self-identified as disabled and those with cognitive impairments were significantly more likely to have experienced sexual assault (2.1% and 1.7% respectively). Other factors associated with having experienced sexual violence were being under 40 years old and being non-white. Physical assault was experienced during the previous year by 2.0% of disabled women and 2.3% of non-disabled women. Results suggest that sexual violence and domestic violence services should ensure that their services are accessible to and appropriate for women with physical, emotional, and mental disabilities. Women in institutional settings (care homes, prison, etc.) were not included in this study. Because only households with telephones were surveyed, these results cannot be generalized to women who live without telephones.
Topic Areas: 
Disabled; prevalence
Reference Type: 
JOUR
Reference ID: 
2426
Publication Date: 
2006/09/01