These Abuse Statistics About Disabled Australians Will Shame You

There are some statistics that stop you in your tracks, and we can guarantee that this will be one of them

 90% of intellectually disabled women in Australia have been sexually abused.

Are you backtracking? Maybe you’ve read it again because you’re sure that’s a mistake. It’s not, and it’s enough to make all Australians angry and ashamed. The fact is that 90% of intellectually disabled women, that’s ALMOST ALL of that group, have been or will be sexually abused in their lives.

And the worst part? That’s only the beginning of these abhorrent statistics.

The Facts

The Australian Cross Disability Alliance, an alliance of a number of national disabled people’s organisations including Women With Disabilities in Australia (WWDA) submitted an inquiry  to the Senate into violence, abuse and neglect against disabled peoples in both institutional and residential settings in August of 2015. Those numbers are just starting to be well known in the public sphere, and what they say about the plight of women, children and youth with disabilities in Australia is atrocious. Let’s look into what they found.

As well as the 90% of intellectually disabled women who experience sexual abuse, more than 70% of women with disabilities have been victims of violent sexual encounters at some point in their lives. Even more terrible is that over two-thirds of these women, or 68%, experience this abuse before they turn 18. The rates of women with disabilities reporting a history of unwanted sex is considerably higher compared to women without disabilities, at 20% compared to under 10%. Overall, more than a quarter of all the rape cases reported by women in Australia are against women with disabilities.

These statistics indicate that there is something very wrong with the way that we as a society embrace, accept and protect people, and particularly women, with disabilities in our community. Clearly there is an assumption either that these women are easy victims, or that their experiences on this planet are not as worth protecting as their non-disabled brethren. But it’s not just sexual abuse, it’s domestic violence as well.

Domestic Violence & Hospitals

We already know that domestic violence is a massive issue in Australia, one that many people are actively working to stop. However one group of victims that seem to have been summarily left out of many people’s thoughts are women with disabilities.

You may not know this but a woman with a disability is 40% more likely to be the victim of domestic violence than one who is not living with a disability. Violence is an active presence in the lives of many of these disabled women, and it’s constant presence has left many feeling unsafe, even in hospital environments. Disgustingly, 85% of women living with a mental health impairment reported that they did not feel safe during hospitalisation, and 67% reported experiencing harassment, both sexual and otherwise, during their time in hospital. In fact 45%, almost half of those women, reported experiencing a sexual assault during an in-patient admission.

That is simply not good enough.

Children and Young People

Just when you thought that Australia couldn’t have let people with disabilities down any more than we already have, there’s the statistics on violence and abuse in children and young people with disabilities. We aren’t going to sugarcoat this for you, because you need to hear it and it’s not going to be easy.

Children and young people who have a disability experience a much higher rate of abuse and violence than any other Australian children, in more episodes and over a longer period of time. They’re three to four times more likely to experience sexual abuse than their same age peers, but many do not have the ability to properly communicate and report that abuse, leaving them helpless and at risk. In institutional settings, places where the families of disabled youth put their trust, the rates of sexual abuse are incredibly high, and violence is also present. In many cases children and young people living with disabilities have their human rights violated, through electroshock treatments and forced sterilisation. In 2007-2008, more than 203 electroshock treatments were done on children younger than 14, including 55 on kids aged four and under.

What Are We Going To Do About It?

The facts are clear: we have grossly failed to protect women, children and young people with disabilities in Australia, and that has to change. In it’s submission to the Senate, the Australian Cross Disability Alliance said that the violence perpetrated against disabled people was “an urgent, unaddressed national crisis, of epidemic proportions”.

We agree.

So what can you do about it? Well the first thing you can do is look out for the people in your life who are living with disabilities. If you know someone who is intellectually or physically disabled, take some time to check up on them and make sure everything is going well with them. Sometimes all it takes is a friendly face and some concern.

If you’re worried that it’s not, get in touch with the authorities and voice your concerns. You can call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) if you believe that person is impacted by sexual assault or family violence. However, if it’s an emergency, always call 000.