Profiling abuse and neglect of women with disabilities: a step towards prevention of mistreatment of vulnerable populations

Abstract

Women with disabilities are at increased risk of violence and neglect, and the physical and psychological barriers to seeking help often lead to prolonged periods of abuse. In addition to being a leading cause of acute injuries and numerous chronic diseases, exposure to violence also negatively affects mental health. The aim of this cross-sectional quantitative data analysis was to investigate potentially distinct experiences of violence among women with disabilities resulting from cerebral palsy (CP), multiple sclerosis (MS), traumatic brain injury (TBI), stroke, arthritis as well as isolated sensory disabilities including visual- or hearing impairment. Indeed, our data shows that type of mistreatment, perpetrators and required personal assistance differ between disability groups. Interestingly, the highest frequency of violence/abuse was observed among women with hearing impairment. Together with MS, this type of disability was also more frequently associated with denial of help with basic needs or prevented use of assistive devices comparing to the other groups. Our results provide an insight into the types of abuse characteristic for certain disability groups, which can help develop more targeted preventive strategies. Furthermore, our findings indicate that prevalence of violence in certain disability groups remains unchanged despite societal efforts, hence calling for further research and more targeted interventions to prevent mistreatment of vulnerable populations.