Created by Survivors of Violence with Disabilities for People with Disabilities & Our Allies
Research and Data
The content in this post focuses on breaking down or critically reviewing research papers or “white papers” (fact-based best practices documents usually published by non-profits).
The Indiana Disability Justice Task Force ( or “IDJ”) is looking for contributors for the online Disability Justice and Violence Prevention Resource Hub! We can compensate you for your participation. If you are selected to be published, you will receive $250! (Please be aware this could affect benefits and services for those who have them. Please seek out guidance.)
Any other ideas you might have to enhance wellness and prevent harm against people with disabilities!
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Please submit questions and publications to indjsubmissions@gmail.com. Submissions will be accepted year-round on a rolling basis. Please note that Online Hub coordinators are mostly volunteer-based, so please be patient as you wait for a response. Once submitted, a Task Force member will confirm receipt. Shortly after, you will receive edits or a confirmation that the submission is ready for publication along with an expected publication date. Please be sure to confirm you are prepared for publication. Once published, please share widely!
The Abuse Prevention Disability Task Force completed a literature review in 2018-2019 to identify risk factors associated with sexual violence and people with cognitive and developmental disabilities. Sexual violence (SV) primary prevention requires increasing protective factors and reducing/eliminating sexual violence perpetration risk factors; and though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified risk and protective factors for sexual violence perpetration, the research may not include people with cognitive and developmental disabilities. People with cognitive and developmental disabilities communicate using a variety of methods and some people do not use written or spoken “standardized” language. The result is hundreds of thousands of people are left out of scientifically designed SV data collection practices, such as NISVS and YRBSS. The task force literature review included science-based evidence (journal articles), practice-based evidence (toolkits), and practice wisdom (community resources) created after the year 2000.
These free and readily available resources reviewed (see citations below) generally associated risk factors with victimization and with disability increasing one’s risk for sexual violence victimization (as a result of structural inequities that place people with disabilities at greater risk). There were no clear findings to report beyond the CDC about risk and protective factors for perpetration. The task force organized the sexual violence risks for victimization across the social ecological model according to the level of their impact on people with disabilities, including cognitive and developmental disabilities. We are developing recommendations to pass along to those who are interested, so keep checking back.
Orgainizational Risk Factors for People with DisabilitiesSocietal Risk Factors for People with DisabilitiesCommunity Risk Factors for People with Disabilities
References:
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, 361–367. doi:10.1111/j.1746-1561.2010.00514
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. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.303004
Davis, Leigh Ann, M.S.S.S.W., M.P.A., L.A.D. (2019). Resources, People with Intellectual Disability and Sexual Violence. The Arc. Retrieved online at May 20, 2019: https://www.thearc.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=2457
Euser, S. , Alink, L. R., Tharner, A. , IJzendoorn, M. H. and Bakermans‐Kranenburg, M. J. (2016). The Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse in Out‐of‐home Care: Increased Risk for Children with a Mild Intellectual Disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 29: 83-92. doi:10.1111/jar.12160
Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen I., Hyun-Jun Kim, and Susan E. Barkan (2012). Disability Among Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adults: Disparities in Prevalence and Risk. American Journal of Public Health 102, e16_e21. doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300379
Hughes K, Bellis MA, Jones L, Wood S, Bates G, Eckley L, McCoy E, Mikton C, Shakespeare T, Officer A. (2012). Prevalence and risk of violence against adults with disabilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Lancet; doi:10.1016/S0410-6736(11)61851-5.
Keilty, J & Connelly, G. (2001). Making a statement: An exploratory study of barriers facing women with an intellectual disability when making a statement about sexual assault to police. Disability & Society, 16 (2), 273-291.
Krahn, Gloria L. PhD, MPH, Deborah Klein Walker, EdD, and Rosaly Correa-De-Araujo, MD, PhD (2015). Persons with Disabilities as an Unrecognized Health Disparity Population. American Journal of Public Health, Supplement 2, 2015, Vol. 105, No. S2., p. S198. Retrieved November 1, 2018 from: https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2014.302182
Normand, C.L. and Sallafranque‐St‐Louis, F. (2016), Cybervictimization of Young People With an Intellectual or Developmental Disability: Risks Specific to Sexual Solicitation. Journal ofApplied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 29:99-110. doi:10.1111/jar.12163
Plummer, S.-B., & Findley, P. (2012). Women With Disabilities’ Experience With Physical and Sexual Abuse: Review of the Literature and Implications for the Field. Trauma Violence Abuse 2012 13: 15. Accessed online May 21, 2019 at:
Taggart, L. & R. McMillan (2009). Listening to women with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems: a focus on risk and resilient factors. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 2009, vol 13(4) 321‒340. doi: 10.1177⁄1744629509353239
West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services (2019). West Virginia S.A.F.E. Training and Collaboration Toolkit, Serving Sexual Violence Victims with Disabilities, B1.1 Sexual Violence 101. Sexual Victimization of Persons with Disabilities: Prevalence and Risk Factors Sexual Victimization of Persons with Disabilities: Prevalence and Risk Factors. West Virginia Foundation for Rape Information and Services. Accessed online May 20, 2019 at:
Elevatus is more than a training facility for sexual health competency for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities; it is a wealth of resources. The Elevatus newsletter is always full of free sexual health resources and goodies and this week’s newsletter is no exception. Click on the button below to access “Listening to Self-Advocates Voices: How Shameful, Negative Messages, and Fear-Based Sexuality Education Puts People At Risk”
Please read the Elevatus article and if you can, track down the original article Restrictions, Power, Companionship, and Intimacy: A Metasynthesis of People with Intellectual Disability Speaking About Sex and Relationships by Rhonda S. Black and Rebecca R. Kammes, (Intellect Dev Disabil. 2020 Feb;58(1):65-81), pass it on!
Movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp have continued to drive national discussions about sexual violence in new and encouraging ways. As conversations around supporting survivors and holding people accountable continue, it is a critical time to move prevention to the forefront. Join PreventConnect for a web conference to explore how practitioners are pivoting conversations around sexual violence to prevention, how the national dialogue has impacted prevention work, the new voices and sectors practitioners are partnering with, and what visions exist for seizing the moment and moving people towards action.
