WHO: Children with Disabilties Almost 4x More Likely to Experience Violence

According to a report by WHO, children with disabilities are almost four times as likely to experience violence as nondisabled children.

The study  says:

  children with disabilities are:

• 3.7 times more likely than non-disabled children to be victims of any sort of violence;
• 3.6 times more likely to be victims of physical violence; and
• 2.9 times more likely to be victims of sexual violence

Those with mental illness or intellectual impairments have 4.6 times  the risk of sexual violence.


The article goes on to state:
Factors which place children with disabilities at higher risk of violence include stigma, discrimination, and ignorance about disability, as well as a lack of social support for those who care for them. Placement of children with disabilities in institutions also increases their vulnerability to violence. In these settings and elsewhere, children with communication impairments are hampered in their ability to disclose abusive experiences.
via dailydisruption.com

 Dr Etienne Krug, Director of WHO’s Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability, states there is a need to set an agenda to determine what strategies can be used to prevent violence.