37.1 35.0

disabilities

15.8

no disabilities*

11.9

Rate of violent victimization for those with 

and without disabilities, per 1,000 people D

Men

Women

> Aggravated assault increased from 3.8/1,000 

people with disabilties in 2009 to 6.6/1,000 in 2013 D

> Rape/sexual assault held steady from 1.3/1,000 

people with disabilities in 2009 to 2/1,000 in 2013 D

> Simple assault is the most common form of 

violence against persons with disabilities, 

at 22/1,000 people with disabilities D

Crimes against 

Persons with 

Disabilities

People with DISABILITIES are victimized 

at much higher rates than the rest of the 

population, but they report crime less 

frequently.D Reporting rates may be lower 

because in many cases they know the 

perpetrator (e.g., an acquaintance, intimate 

partner, or other family member) or because 

of the nature of their disability (such as 

cognitive or physical disabilities or mental 

illness). Since people with disabilities are 

often targeted specifically because of their 

disability, crimes against them may also 

count as hate crimes (when the perpetrator 

is motivated by bias against a particular 

group of people—see the Hate Crimes Fact 

Sheet for more).

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

an age-adjusted* rate of 

13.7/1,000 people without disabilities D

vs

The rate of violent victimization against 

persons with disabilities is

36/1,000 people with disabilities

50.5% of all violence against persons with disabilities 

occurs against victims with multiple disabilities, including:D

> 68.1% of rapes/sexual assaults

> 56.6% of aggravated assaults

> 50.3% of simple assaults

> 37.0% of robberies

NOTES: See reverse for additional information 

on reporting limitations. Data from 2013 unless 

otherwise indicated. Hover for data hyperlinks to 

source material.

vs

Stranger (30.6%)

Acquaintance (41%)

Intimate partner (15.3%)

Other relative (9%)

Relationship to Offender: D

Unknown (4.1%)

ac

stra

int

pa

oth

(38.8%)

(35.1%)

(11.2%)

(5.6%)

(9.3%)

Persons without Disabilities D

acquaintan

strangers

intimate

partner

other relativ

Persons with disabilities are 14.2% of the population 

yet are victims of violent crime

as often as persons without disabilities, 

adjusted for age D 2x *

Physical (50.6%)

Verbal/emotional (87.2%)

Sexual (41.6%)

Neglect (37.3.%)

Type of Abuse: A

Financial (31.5%)

More than 70% of people with disabilities had 

been abused, in a 2012 survey A

51.7% of incidents were reported 
NOTES

*Data relies heavily on findings from the National 

Crime Victimization Survey, which only includes 

those 12 and older with disabilities living among 

the general population in household settings. 

This limited respondent pool indicates an 

underestimation of violence experienced by 

people with disabilities, as it does not take into 

account people living in institutions, people who are 

homeless, or children under 12. Therefore, some 

rates for violent crime against people without 

disabilities have been age-adjusted to standardize 

the rate of violence and allow a direct comparison 

between the two groups.

For more, see: Erika Harrell, Crime Against Persons 

with Disabilities, 2009–2013 - Statistical Tables.

SOURCES

A Nora J. Baladerian, Thomas F. Colemand, and Jim 

Stream, Findings from the 2012 Survey on Abuse 

of People with Disabilities, (Los Angeles: Spectrum 

Institute, 2013), http://www.disabilityandabuse.

org/survey/findings.pdf. This national survey 

included 1,300 people with disabilities and their 

family members.

B Child Maltreatment 2013, (U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services), https://www.acf.hhs.

gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm2013.pdf

C Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hate Crime 

Statistics, 2014, (Washington, DC: U.S. 

Department of Justice, 2015), https://www.fbi.

gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2014/tables/

table-1

D Erika Harrell, Crime Against Persons with 

Disabilities, 2009–2013 - Statistical Tables,

(Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 

2015), http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/

capd0913st.pdf

E Lisa Jones et al., “Prevalence and Risk of Violence 

against Children with Disabilities: A Systematic 

Review and Meta-analysis of Observational 

Studies,” Lancet 380, no. 9845 (2012): 899

Crimes against Persons with Disabilities continued

Persons with a cognitive disability had the highest rates of:D

> Overall violent crime: 66.8/1,000 people with disabilities

> Serious violent crime: 25.1/1,000 people with disabilities

> Simple assault: 41.6/1,000 people with disabilities

32.4

66.8

32.2 29.8

Rate of violent victimization by type of disability, 

per 1,000 people with disabilities D

26.0

16.9

Independent living

Cognitive

Ambulatory

Self-care

Vision

Hearing

70 hate crimes were against persons 

with a mental disability:C

– 18 simple assaults 

– 14 acts of 

intimidation

– 13 acts of vandalism/

destruction of 

property

– 9 larceny-thefts 

– 6 burglaries 

– 3 aggravated assaults

– 3 other crimes against property

– 2 crimes against society

– 1 rape

– 1 robbery

26 hate crimes were against 

persons with a physical disability:C

– 8 acts of 

intimidation

– 6 simple 

assaults

– 6 other crimes against property

– 3 larceny-thefts

– 2 aggravated assaults

– 1 act of vandalism

About 1 in 4 children with a disability will become a victim of violenceE

Of those, 20.4% will be victims of physical violence

and 13.7% will be victims of sexual violence

Black (51%) 

White (45.1%) 

Other/Unknown (3.9%) 1.5% of reported hate crimes were against people with disabilities in 2014:C

12.6% of child victims of abuse or neglect also have a disability:B

Emotional disturbance (2.4%)

Behavioral problem (3.0%)

Learning disability (1.1%)

Visual or hearing impairment (0.8%)

Physical disability (0.6%)

Intellectual disability (0.5%)

Other medical disability (4.1%)