Disabled Adults - Easy Victims of Violence

An extreme form of frustration and aggression is violence. Rape, assault and murder are the various forms of violence.

Factors such as exposure to domestic violence, child abuse, violent media, etc. can arouse violent behavior in an individual.

The global percentage of adults with disabilities is about 15%. These adults are exposed to the risk of violence and assaults.

To assess the prevalence and risk of violence against adults with disabilities, a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies was conducted by Karen Hughes and her associates.

It was aimed to quantify the incidence of violence against disabled adults.

Twelve electronic databases were studied and the research studies published between Jan1, 1990 and Aug 17, 2010 were taken into account. Cases of violence against disabled adults ≥18 years were compared with normal adults. Data was collected on the basis of six core quality criteria.

The data of 21557 disabled individuals was collected. All forms of violence- physical, sexual, intimate partner were taken into consideration. Incidence of violence among mentally challenged people was an average of 24.3%, in people with intellectual impairments was 6.1% and 3.2 % in adults with non-specific impairments. Adults with disabilities were more at a chance from suffering from violence as compared to adults without disability.

The study thus found that incidences of violence are common against adults with disabilities particularly vulnerabilities like mental disability. Disabled adults are more likely to meet violent acts in contrast to their non-disabled counterparts. The incidences are likely to be more common in low-income and middle income nations.

Further studies are necessary to study the problem so that adequate measures can be taken to protect individuals with disabilities.

References :

1. The study-Prevalence and risk of violence against adults with disabilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies was done by Karen Hugens and was published The Lancet Feb 2012.

Source: Medindia