Sexual Violence and Intimate Partner Violence Among People with Disabilities

What to know

  • Disability affects more than one in four women and one in five men in the United States and has been associated with a greater risk of experiencing violence.
  • Research shows that women and men with a disability are at increased risk for experiencing sexual violence and intimate partner violence.

Terms to know

In the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS), the term “disability” includes activity limitations an adult may have due to physical, mental, or emotional problems and health problems that require the use of special equipment such as a cane, wheelchair, special bed, or special telephone.

Facts

People with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and intimate partner violence. The information below is based on NISVS data that captured experiences occurring in the past 12 months before taking the survey. These figures likely underestimate the true burden of sexual violence and intimate partner violence victimization and exclude adults living in institutions such as prisons, group homes, and nursing homes.

Sexual violence

Women with a disability are at greater risk of experiencing rape than women without a disability. An estimated two in five (39%) female victims of rape had a disability at the time of the rape.

Men with a disability are at greater risk for experiencing sexual violence other than rape (e.g., being made to penetrate, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and noncontact unwanted sexual experiences) than men without a disability. Nearly one in four (24%) male victims who experienced sexual violence other than rape had a disability at the time of the victimization.

For both women and men, having a disability was associated with an increased risk of sexual coercion (pressured sex without physical force) and noncontact unwanted sexual experiences (e.g., harassed in a public place, made to participate in or view sexually explicit material).

Intimate partner violence

Women with a disability are more likely than women without a disability to report experiencing rape, sexual violence other than rape, physical violence, stalking, psychological aggression, and control of reproductive or sexual health by an intimate partner. Men with a disability are more likely than men without a disability to report experiencing stalking and psychological aggression by an intimate partner.

Recommendations

By understanding that disabled persons are at greater risk of experiencing sexual violence and intimate partner violence victimization than persons without a disability, we can take action in our communities to stop the violence before it starts.

The strategies and approaches in the Sexual Violence Prevention Resource for Action and the Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Resource for Action may help reduce violence among those with a disability.

Resources

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Content Source:
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
  • Breiding, M. J., & Armour, B. S. (2015). The Association between Disability and Intimate Partner Violence in the United States. Annals of Epidemiology, 25(6), 455-457.
  • Basile, K. C., Breiding, M. J., & Smith, S. G. (2016). Disability and Risk of Recent Sexual Violence in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 106(5), 928-933.
  • Basile, K.C., DeGue, S., Jones, K., Freire, K., Dills, J., Smith, S.G., Raiford, J.L. (2016). Sexual Violence Prevention Resource for Action: A Compilation of the Best Available Evidence. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Note: The title of this document was changed in July 2023 to align with other Prevention Resources being developed by CDC's Injury Center. The document was previously cited as "Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices."
  • Niolon, P. H., Kearns, M., Dills, J., Rambo, K., Irving, S., Armstead, T., & Gilbert, L. (2017). Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Resource for Action: A Compilation of the Best Available Evidence. Atlanta, GA: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Note: The title of this document was changed in July 2023 to align with other Prevention Resources being developed by CDC's Injury Center. The document was previously cited as "Preventing Intimate Partner Violence Across the Lifespan: A Technical Package of Programs, Policies, and Practices."