Abuse of Women With Disabilities

Abstract

According to the National Study of Women With Physical Disabilities, the prevalence of abuse was not significantly different between women with and without disabilities. Women with physical disabilities, however, reported significantly longer durations of abuse. Unique vulnerabilities to abuse experienced by women with disabilities include social stereotypes of asexuality and passivity, lack of adaptive equipment, inaccessible home and community environments, increased exposure to medical and institutional settings, dependence on perpetrators for personal assistance, and lack of employment options. In order to enable the identification of women with disabilities who are in abusive situations and their referral to appropriate community services, policy changes are needed to increase training for all types of service providers in abuse interventions, to improve architectural and attitudinal accessibility of programs for battered women, to increase the responsiveness of adult protective services, to increase options for personal assistance, to expand the availability of affordable and accessible legal services, and to improve communication among community services.

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