Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Oct;23(4):1330-1343.
doi: 10.1177/1524838021995975. Epub 2021 Mar 4.

Sexual Violence Against Persons With Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis

Amylee Mailhot Amborski  1 , Eve-Line Bussières  1 , Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel  1 , Christian C Joyal  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Sexual Violence Against Persons With Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis

Amylee Mailhot Amborski et al. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

A growing number of large-scale studies suggest that people with disabilities are at greater risk of sexual victimization than nondisabled individuals. However, certain results are inconsistent and whether potential moderators explain this variability in previous findings remain to be considered. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the magnitude of the difference in risk of being sexually victimized based on the presence of a disability. An additional objective was to evaluate the relative influence of gender, age, type of disability, type of sexual violence, and relationship with the perpetrator on the association between the presence of a disability and sexual victimization. Studies were searched using pertinent databases and retained if they included a group with a disability, provided data that quantify the occurrence of abuse, indicated the type of sexual violence, and was published between 1970 and 2018 in French or English. A total of 68 studies, allowing 84 independent samples and 12,427 participants, were included. Individuals with disabilities were at significantly higher risk of sexual victimization than persons without disabilities (odds ratio = 2.27). The risk of sexual victimization among individuals with a disability was significantly higher in adult participants compared with the risk in minor participants. Sensory impairment was the type of disability associated with the highest risk of sexual victimization. Odds of sexual victimization among individuals with a disability were significantly higher in African countries compared with all others, and odds in Western Europe were significantly lower than in the United States. No significant differences emerged across eras.

Keywords: disability; meta-analysis; sexual violence; victimization.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Forest plot.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. *Alriksson-Schmidt A. I., Armour B. S., Thibadeau J. K. (2010). Are adolescent girls with a physical disability at increased risk for sexual violence? Journal of School Health, 80(7), 361–367. 10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00514.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alvazzi del Frate A. (2010). Crime and criminal justice statistics challenges. In Harrendorf S., Heiskanen M., Malby S. (Eds.), International statistics on crime and justice (pp. 167–175). European Institute for United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC; ).
    1. *Ammerman R. T., Van Hasselt V. B., Hersen M., McGonigle J. J., Lubetsky M. J. (1989). Abuse and neglect in psychiatrically hospitalized multihandicapped children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 13(3), 335–343. 10.1016/0145-2134(89)90073-2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anderson M. L., Leigh I. W. (2011). Intimate partner violence against deaf female college students. Violence Against Women, 17(7), 822–834. 10.1177/1077801211412544 - DOI - PubMed
    1. *Austin A., Herrick H., Proescholdbell S., Simmons J. (2016). Disability and exposure to high levels of adverse childhood experiences effect on health and risk behavior. North Carolina Medical Journal, 77(1), 30–36. 10.18043/ncm.77.1.30 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources