Gender-Based Violence Against Persons with Disabilities: A Global Call for Action

Gender-based violence (GBV) and sexual violence remain widespread human rights violations across the globe. Yet, within this crisis lies a group that is often invisible in public discourse—persons with disabilities (PwDs). Women and girls with disabilities face heightened risks of abuse due to the intersection of gender and disability, and they encounter systemic barriers when seeking justice, healthcare, and support.

Tackling GBV against PwDs requires a nuanced approach that recognizes their unique vulnerabilities while pushing for inclusive systems worldwide.

Understanding the Scope of GBV Against PwDs

Globally, persons with disabilities are two to four times more likely to experience violence compared to those without disabilities (UNFPA). Women and girls with disabilities are particularly at risk due to compounded discrimination based on both gender and disability.

Social isolation often intensifies this risk. Many PwDs live in environments where mobility is restricted, dependence on caregivers is high, and access to safe networks is limited. This isolation increases vulnerability and makes it harder to report abuse.

Unique Forms of Violence

While PwDs experience the same forms of GBV as others—domestic violence, sexual assault, workplace harassment—they also face unique forms of abuse that specifically exploit their disability.

• Withholding of assistive devices, medication, or mobility aids to exert control.
• Denying essential care, food, or healthcare as punishment.
• Emotional abuse that targets their disability eroding self-worth.

Institutional abuse is another widespread issue. In group homes, care facilities, and hospitals, violence is often hidden. Neglect, forced isolation, and sexual assault occur in environments where survivors may lack the ability—or the support systems—to speak out.

Stigma and Victim Blaming

The stigma surrounding both disability and sexual violence compounds the silence. Survivors with disabilities are frequently disbelieved, infantilized, or desexualized. Harmful stereotypes suggest that they cannot understand consent or that sexual violence against them is somehow less serious.

Families and communities often discourage reporting to avoid perceived shame. As a result, survivors remain in abusive situations without safe avenues for help.

Legal Protections and Barriers

Many countries have legislation designed to protect against GBV and discrimination based on disability. Yet laws on paper rarely translate into safety in practice.

• Police stations, courts, and shelters often remain physically inaccessible.
• Reporting mechanisms—such as helplines—rarely provide accommodations like sign language interpretation, captioning, or braille.
• Legal professionals and law enforcement often lack disability awareness training, resulting in dismissive or insensitive handling of cases.

These gaps leave PwDs disproportionately excluded from justice systems.

Obstacles in Reporting and Accessing Support

For survivors with intellectual, speech, or communication disabilities, reporting abuse poses even greater challenges. Without trained personnel or accessible tools, many cannot describe what happened.

Survivor support services such as shelters, hotlines, and counseling centers often lack inclusive infrastructure. This effectively excludes PwDs from receiving critical assistance.

Limited Awareness and Education

Comprehensive sexuality education is vital to preventing GBV, but it is rarely tailored to PwDs. Without access to information about consent, personal boundaries, and bodily autonomy, many remain vulnerable to exploitation.

At the community level, awareness of how GBV affects PwDs is extremely low. Misconceptions perpetuate silence, invisibility, and lack of empathy for survivors.

Healthcare Barriers

Healthcare is central to recovery after violence, but PwDs often face inaccessible systems:

• Facilities without ramps, adjustable equipment, or privacy accommodations.
• Lack of trained staff familiar with disability needs.
• Minimal mental health support tailored to disabled survivors.

These barriers can make seeking medical or psychological assistance retraumatizing or impossible.

Economic Dependence and Isolation

Globally, unemployment among PwDs is significantly higher than the general population. Women with disabilities, in particular, experience economic marginalization, leaving many dependent on caregivers or abusive partners.

When perpetrators are also caregivers, financial and physical dependence makes reporting abuse almost unthinkable. Survivors often face the impossible choice between enduring abuse and losing essential support.

Global Data and Case Trends

• Prevalence: Research shows that PwDs are at significantly higher risk of domestic violence, sexual assault, and institutional abuse compared to non-disabled peers.
• Withholding of resources: Human Rights Watch has documented cases where caregivers deliberately withheld wheelchairs, medications, or financial support to control survivors.
• Public harassment: Persons with visual, hearing, or mobility impairments frequently report sexual harassment in public spaces, including transportation, where safety measures are inadequate.

Promising Interventions

Despite the challenges, organizations around the world are leading change:

• Accessible helplines with sign language services and text-based reporting.
• Community-based awareness programs educating families and caregivers about disability rights and GBV.
• Training for law enforcement and healthcare providers to ensure sensitive and inclusive responses to cases involving PwDs.
• Economic empowerment programs that equip PwDs with vocational training and employment opportunities, reducing financial dependence on abusers.

Recommendations for Change

To break the cycle of violence, governments, NGOs, and communities must work together. Key actions include:

• Ensuring accessibility in justice systems, from police stations to courts.
• Expanding disability-inclusive shelters and survivor services.
• Integrating comprehensive sexuality education tailored for PwDs.
• Strengthening data collection to better understand prevalence and guide policies.
• Promoting public awareness campaigns that challenge stigma and harmful stereotypes.

Conclusion

Gender-based violence against persons with disabilities is not just a personal issue—it is a global human rights crisis. Survivors face double discrimination, systemic neglect, and profound isolation.

Addressing this requires more than policy statements. It demands accessible, inclusive, and survivor-centered systems that empower PwDs to speak out, seek justice, and rebuild their lives.

Creating a world free from violence requires collective responsibility—where every individual, regardless of ability, is valued, respected, and safe.

About the Author:
Dr. Abha Khetarpal is a disability rights advocate, counselor, and trainer. She is also an author and podcaster, raising awareness on issues at the intersection of disability, gender, and sexuality.