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Facing up to Facts

Lynne Melcombe

If one were to ask the average person whether people with disabilities are more likely than others to experience abuse – physical, sexual, or emotional – the average person would probably say no. Sadly, they would be wrong.

As a whole, people with disabilities are two to five times as likely to be abused as their non-disabled counterparts. (BCIFV, 2002) Using Criminal Code definitions of assault, at least 60 percent of women with disabilities experience some form of assault in the course of their lives, as compared with 50 percent of women without disabilities. (Justice Institute of BC, 1996) In the general population, 23 percent of girls and 20 percent of boys up to age 18 experience sexual abuse, while among children with development disabilities, these numbers soar to 83 percent of girls and 32 percent of boys (Medicine Hat Regional Association for the Mentally Handicapped, 1993).

The rate of disability increases with age, and along with increasing disability come increased risks of abuse. In 1990, the Ryerson Study reported that 40 per 1000 elders in Canada had recently experienced some form of maltreatment. This translates into more than 1600 elders in BC alone. (Pay, 1993) Moreover, the persons most likely to abuse people with disabilities are the people they rely on most heavily: their caregivers (BCIFV, 2002).

Moreover, abuse of people with disabilities is far less likely than other kinds of abuse to be reported, investigated, or (successfully) prosecuted. Often people with disabilities are sufficiently dependent on caregivers that they fear the consequences if their caregivers were arrested. Alternatively, they may not report because they fear reprisals, or they may be unable to report because the nature of their disability inhibits their communication with anyone other than the abusive caregiver.

Even if they are willing and able to report the abuse, there is a greater likelihood than among the general population that they will not be believed. Our society takes a paternal and often infantilizing view of people with disabilities, leading to assumptions like “she’s confused” or “he misinterpreted,” or even “that’s just part of the treatment plan.” They also see people with disabilities as asexual and tend not to believe that anyone would sexually assault a woman with disabilities, clearly forgetting that sexual assault is not about sex but power (Foundation on Independent Living, 1992 and 1996).

The problem of believability is compounded if and when such cases go to court, where the victim comes up against the social prejudices of court officials. These can range from the prosecuting attorney’s unwillingness to take the extra time needed to prepare a witness with disabilities to give testimony; the defense attorney’s willingness to use the victim’s disability to discredit him or her; the judge’s reluctance to disallow such tactics; and the jury’s decreased likelihood of being convinced by the testimony of an individual who speaks only with great effort or through an interpreter or interpretation device (FIL, 1992 and 1996).

These prejudices must be the focus of efforts to change the staggering statistics quoted earlier. Individuals who abuse persons with disabilities often do so because they know the abuse is unlikely to be reported or believed. The battle to change this must target the general population by ensuring that people with disabilities are present in our schools, workplaces, and media, where they and others can see them as members of and contributors to our society. At the same time, people with disabilities must be the focal point of efforts to protect themselves against abuse and speak out on their own behalf when it occurs (FIL, 1992 and MHRAMH, 1993), and families, friends, and professionals must learn to recognize the symptoms of abuse and support abused individuals to respond (FIL, 1996 and BCIFV, 1999).

In this issue, we look at abuse of people with disabilities from three [or four] perspectives: Sally Rogow, a retired UBC professor of special education, writes about abuse of children with disabilities; Monika Chappell of the DisAbled Women’s Network, writes about violence against women with disabilities; and Jill Hightower, former executive director of the BCIFV, shares her knowledge of abuse of older persons. We hope you find the content informative, and look forward to your feedback.

-Lynne Melcombe
Editor

Sources

BC Institute Against Family Violence (BCIFV), The Person Within, Vancouver BC, 1999.
DAWN Canada, www.dawncanada.net, 2002.
_____, FAQ on Caregiver Abuse of People with Disabilities, Vancouver BC, 2002.
Foundation on Independent Living (FIL), Disabled Women and Abuse (video), Oakville ON, 1992.
_____, Double Jeopardy (video), Oakville ON, 1996.
Hanvey, Louise, Children with Disabilities and Their Families in Canada: A Discussion Paper, National Children’s Alliance for the First Roundtable on Children with Disabilities, 2002.
Justice Institute of BC (JIBC), Charting New Waters: Responding to Violence Against Women with Disabilities (video), New Westminster BC, 1996.
McReary Centre Society, Sexual Abuse and Young People with Disabilities Project, Vancouver BC, 1993.
Medicine Hat Regional Association for the Mentally Handicapped (MHRAMH), Toward a Better Tomorrow: Helping Mentally Handicapped People Stop the Cycle of Violence and Abuse (video), Medicine Hat AB, 1993.
Pay, Daphne, Ask the Question: A Resource Manual on Elder Abuse for the Health Care Professional, BC Institute on Family Violence, Vancouver BC, 1993.
Statistics Canada, Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS), The Daily, http://www.statcan.ca, 2002.