Disabled Adults More Likely to Be Victims of Violence, Study Finds
Published at
Hemera Technologies/Thinkstock(LONDON) — Adults with disabilities are more likely to be victims of violence than adults who are not disabled, according to a new study published online in The Lancet.
Mentally ill adults are at four times higher risk for violence, and adults with intellectual impairments are also particularly vulnerable.
A team of researchers from the United Kingdom’s Liverpool John Moores University and the World Health Organization analyzed 26 studies on violence against disabled adults, with more than 21,000 participants from around the world.
“About three percent of individuals with non-specific impairments [eg, physical, mental, or emotional, or health problems that restrict activities] will have experienced violence within the past 12 months, rising to almost a quarter of people with mental illnesses,” said lead author Mark Bellis of Liverpool John Moores University in a press release.
The violence, he explained, was either physical, sexual or by an intimate partner.
Experts not involved in the research say the study calls attention to the plight of many disabled adults who become targets for a variety of reasons.
“There are a number of reasons why adults with disabilities are more vulnerable to violence,” said Dick Sobsey, professor emeritus at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.
“Many of them are more vulnerable or may have limited communication abilities, either by impairment or by situations they are in,” he said.
Jack Levin, professor of sociology and criminology at Northeastern University in Boston, added that they may not be able to fight back or report the incidents to authorities.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio