Breaking the Silence 

on Crime Victims with Disabilities in the United States 

May 21, 2007 

Joint Statement 

by the 

National Council on Disability, 

Association of University Centers on Disabilities, 

and the 

National Center for Victims of Crime 

 
Joint Statement on 

Crime Victims with Disabilities 

1

Breaking the Silence 

on Crime Victims with Disabilities in the United States 

Introduction

 The National Council on Disability (www.ncd.gov) is an independent federal agency 

mandated to advise the President and Congress on the diverse needs of persons with disabilities 

and to promote policies and practices that empower individuals with disabilities. The 

Association of University Centers on Disabilities (www.aucd.org) supports member programs to 

enhance the quality of life for persons with developmental disabilities. The National Center for 

Victims of Crime (www.ncvc.org) is the nation’s leading resource and advocacy organization 

dedicated to helping victims of crime rebuild their lives.

In releasing this joint statement, the National Council on Disability, the Association of 

University Centers on Disabilities, and the National Center for Victims of Crime announce their 

partnership to break the silence about criminal victimization of individuals with disabilities in the 

United States. The ultimate goal of this partnership is to foster greater public awareness about 

crime victims with disabilities and to forge a national commitment to better serve this 

particularly vulnerable population. 

Crime Victimization in the United States 

 In 2005, Americans experienced 23 million violent and non-violent crimes, fewer than 

half of which were reported to law enforcement.1

 This translates into one crime every five 

seconds in communities across the United States. The leading risk factor for becoming a victim 

of crime is now understood to be previous victimization. Individuals who become targets of 

repeat victimization may be unable to protect themselves, especially if no protective measures 

are taken to prevent subsequent offenses.2

 

Crime can have life-changing consequences for the health, well-being, and financial 

stability of victims who may struggle for weeks, months, and years with the aftermath of 

victimization.3

 Many crime victims suffer decreased productivity, lowered academic 

performance, severe loss of confidence, and ongoing psychological effects.4

 Mental illness, 

suicide, and drug and alcohol abuse are far more common among crime victims than among the 
Joint Statement on 

Crime Victims with Disabilities 

2

general public. Battered women, for example, are five times more likely to attempt suicide, 15 

times more likely to abuse alcohol, four times more likely to abuse drugs, and three times more 

likely to be diagnosed as depressed or psychotic than non-battered women.5

 While the long-term impact of crime on individual victims can be profound, an enormous 

toll is also exacted on families, communities, and society at large—especially when victims do 

not receive the services and support they need to repair the harm. Without timely intervention, 

the consequences of crime can worsen, necessitating more costly and difficult intervention later 

on. 

Persons with Disabilities 

 In 2002, 51.2 million people (18.1 percent of the U.S. population) reported some level of 

disability and 32.5 million (11.5 percent of the U.S. population) reported a severe disability.6

 

(Census numbers exclude children under age six and individuals who reside in institutional 

settings.) A direct relationship exists between age and disability, with the disability rate for each 

age group successively higher than for the preceding younger group. With a disability rate of 

19.4 percent, for example, people 45 to 54 years old were more than twice as likely to have a 

disability as people under 15 (8.4 percent) and half as likely as people 65 to 69 years old (38.4 

percent). People 80 and older had the highest disability rate (71.7 percent).7

Individuals with disabilities often experience overt and subtle forms of marginalization 

that preclude them from fully participating in their communities. This marginalization takes 

shape through greatly reduced access to the wide range of services, programs, and activities 

available to members of the community, including safe and affordable housing, transportation, 

employment opportunities, social services, recreation, education (particularly adult and 

continuing education), and opportunities to participate in the political process. 

Crime Victims with Disabilities 

 Very little reliable national data exists on crimes against persons with disabilities in the 

United States. The limited size and scope of the studies conducted to date preclude generalizing 

research results to the nation as a whole. Data that has been collected suggest that, when 

compared with the general population, persons with disabilities are victimized at much higher 

rates: 
Joint Statement on 

Crime Victims with Disabilities 

3

• Children with a reported disability are 68 percent more likely to be victims of 

maltreatment than children with no reported disability.8

• Women with developmental disabilities are at a 4 to 10 times greater risk of sexual 

assault than women in the general population.9 

• More than one-fourth of persons with severe mental illness were victims of a violent 

crime in the past year, a rate more than 11 times that of the general population.10

• From 15,000 to 19,000 people with developmental disabilities are raped each year in 

the United States.11

 Crime victims with disabilities may experience victimization at the hands of family 

caregivers, intimate partners, or personal assistance service professionals. In fact, more than half 

of all abuse of people with disabilities is estimated to be perpetrated by family members and 

peers with disabilities. Service providers (e.g., paid or unpaid caregivers, healthcare workers, 

and providers of other community services, such as transportation) are generally believed 

responsible for the other half.12

Crime victims who are physically, financially, and emotionally dependent on an offender 

are far less likely to report a crime to authorities, seek justice, or access victim service assistance. 

These crime victims often fear retaliation by their offender or destitution if their offender is 

arrested and convicted—leading many crime victims with disabilities to live lives of silent 

desperation and hopelessness in the face of long-term, repeat victimization. 

In an effort to close the research gap on crime victims with disabilities, in 1998 Congress 

enacted the Crime Victims with Disabilities Awareness Act, (CVDAA).13 This measure directed 

the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a study about crimes against people with 

developmental disabilities and to gather statistics on this population through the National Crime 

Victim Survey, the nation’s primary source of crime victim data. Unfortunately, efforts to fully 

implement CVDAA have not been successful. 

Provider Issues 

 Crime victim service providers—also known as victim advocates and victim/witness 

assistants—help crime victims cope with the aftermath of crime and navigate the criminal justice 

system. Crime victim service providers in the United States incorporate, by and large, a “victimcentered” approach that recognizes the individual circumstances and needs of every crime 
Joint Statement on 

Crime Victims with Disabilities 

4

victim, educates victims about their options, and supports victims’ decisions in a non-blaming, 

non-judgmental manner—an approach that is especially well suited to supporting crime victims 

with disabilities. 

Located in a wide variety of settings (such as prosecutors’ offices, police departments, 

probation offices, domestic violence shelters, and rape crisis centers), victim service providers 

offer crime victims a wide range of support services: safety planning, crisis intervention, 

emergency housing, supportive counseling, information about legal rights, assistance accessing 

victim compensation, court accompaniment, financial assistance, assistance with funeral 

arrangements, and information about what to expect at different stages of a criminal case. 

Crime victim service agencies in the United States have made some headway in serving 

crime victims with disabilities; however, much remains to be done to build the capacity of the 

crime victim assistance field to support this population. For example, we need to increase 

awareness among crime victim service agencies that they are subject to federal civil rights laws 

which protect members of the disability community from discrimination. Discrimination in a 

disability rights context frequently entails policies, programs, services, or activities that deny full 

and equal participation by persons with disabilities, even when such results are not intended. 

 The Americans with Disabilities Act of 199014 prohibits discrimination within the areas 

of employment, state and local government programs and services, places of public 

accommodation, transportation, and telecommunications.15 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation 

Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by any entity receiving 

federal funds.16 Additionally, programs providing temporary housing to crime victims are 

subject to the Fair Housing Act (as amended in 1988) which contains anti-discrimination 

provisions on the basis of disability.17

 Crime victim service agencies also need to develop best practices to address the specific 

needs of different disability groups. Although some victim service providers may think they do 

not have the resources to meet the needs of crime victims with disabilities, they may not realize a 

vast array of resources is available to assist them in expanding accessibility as they strive to 

serve every segment of the community, especially the most vulnerable among us. 
Joint Statement on 

Crime Victims with Disabilities 

5

A Roadmap to the Future 

 The ultimate goal of the partnership between the National Council on Disability, the 

Association of University Centers on Disabilities, and the National Center for Victims of Crime 

is to foster greater public awareness about crime victims with disabilities and to forge a national 

commitment to better serve this particularly vulnerable population. We call on elected officials 

at the national, state, and local levels; directors of social service agencies; disability providers; 

disability activists; law enforcement officers and prosecutors; victim service providers; leaders of 

social service, academic, and business institutions; media representatives; and members of the 

general public to join us in a comprehensive effort to effect positive and meaningful change in 

the following priority areas: 

• Public Education—to raise awareness about the circumstances and needs of persons 

with disabilities who have been victimized by crime. Greater understanding by the 

general public, elected officials and other policy makers, the media, and those in the 

disability, criminal justice, and victim services communities is foundational to addressing 

the myriad unmet needs of this vulnerable and underserved population. Extensive outreach 

also is needed to educate crime victims with disabilities about their rights as victims and 

where they can go for help. 

• Research—to engage in national research that will establish the prevalence and 

consequences of crime against persons with disabilities and identify best practices for 

crime prevention and crime victim services to members of the disability community. 

We need a much clearer picture of the number of crime victims with disabilities, the rates 

and types of victimization among different disability groups, the behavior of offenders and 

the settings in which victimization occurs, the availability and quality of services for crime 

victims with disabilities, and barriers to accessing these services. Sound public policy, 

resource allocation, and program development must be informed by current, scientifically 

valid data. 

• Public Policy—to adopt public policies that integrate crime victims with disabilities 

and their needs into the current framework of federal, state, and local services. We 

must fully engage the political and policy development process to ensure adequate 

resources are directed to addressing the needs of crime victims with disabilities. Policies 

and laws that protect victims of crime must be inclusive of crime victims with disabilities. 
Joint Statement on 

Crime Victims with Disabilities 

6

Furthermore, laws and policies that address disability issues should acknowledge and be 

sensitive to crime victimization issues, as appropriate. 

• Programs and Services—to improve the number of and access to appropriate 

programs and services that will help crime victims with disabilities rebuild their lives. 

We must launch a national effort to ensure that crime victims with disabilities have full 

access to crime victims’ rights, protections, and services that have greatly expanded since 

the advent of the crime victims’ rights movement nearly three decades ago. Extensive 

training of crime victim service providers, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and 

judges is needed to ensure the full participation of victims with disabilities in the criminal 

justice system. Disability professionals also need thorough training on recognizing and 

responding to victimization in the populations with which they work, including making 

appropriate referrals to crime victim service providers in their community. 

• National Leadership—to foster the development of leaders who will serve as agents of 

change on behalf of crime victims with disabilities. This partnership envisions a national 

forum for leadership and constituents that serves as a unified and pro-active voice for crime 

victims with disabilities, a vehicle to exchange and share information on supporting this 

population, and a platform to advance a national dialogue on crime victims with 

disabilities. 

### 

For more information about the partnership or this joint statement, please contact: 

Joan Durocher 

Senior Attorney/Advisor 

National Council on Disability 

1331 F Street, NW Suite 850 

Washington, DC 20004 

jdurocher@ncd.gov 

202-272-2004 VOICE 

202-272-2074 TTY 

Kevin O’Brien, EdD 

Director of Education and 

Victim Services 

National Center for Victims of Crime 

2000 M Street, NW, Suite 480 

Washington, DC 20036 

kobrien@ncvc.org 

www.ncvc.org 

202-467-8700 VOICE 

1-800-FYI-CALL/National Crime 

Victim Helpline VOICE 

1-800-211-7996 Helpline TTY

George S. Jesien, PhD 

Executive Director 

Association of University Centers on 

Disabilities 

1010 Wayne Avenue, Suite 920 

Silver Spring, MD 20910 

301-588-8252 

gjesien@aucd.org 

www.aucd.org 

Alternative contact: 

Beverly Frantz: 215-204-5078 

bfrantz@temple.edu 

 

1

 Shannan M. Catalano, “Criminal Victimization, 2005,” (Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2006), 

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cv05.pdf (accessed January 22, 2007). 
Joint Statement on 

Crime Victims with Disabilities 

7

 2

 Deborah Lamm Weisel, “Analyzing Repeat Victimization,” Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Problem-Solving 

Tools Series, Guide No. 4, (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing 

Services, August 2005), http://www.cops.usdjoj.gov/mime/open.pdf?Item=1565 (accessed January 19, 2007). 3

 Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery, (New York: Basic Books, 1992). 4

 R. Barry Ruback and Martie P. Thompson, Social and Psychological Consequences of Violent Victimization, 

(Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2001), 87-105. 

5

 Evan Stark and Anne Flitcraft, Women at Risk (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996), 163. 6

 Erika Steinmetz, “Americans with Disabilities: 2002,” (Washington DC: U.S. Census Bureau, May 2006), 

http://www.census.gov/prod/2006pubs/p70-107.pdf (accessed January 22, 2007). 7

 Ibid., Figure 2. 

8

 Children’s Bureau, “Child Maltreatment, 2004,” (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human 

Services, 2005), 27, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm04.pdf (accessed May 11, 2007). 9

 W. Abramson et al., eds., Impact: Feature Issue on Violence Against Women with Developmental or Other 

Disabilities 13, number 3 (2000). 10 L.A. Teplin et al., “Crime Victimization in Adults with Severe Mental Illness: Comparison with the National 

Crime Victimization Survey,” Archives of General Psychiatry 62, number 8 (2005). 11 D. Sobsey, Violence and Abuse in the Lives of People with Disabilities: The End of Silent Acceptance? 

(Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 1994). 

12 D. Sobsey and T. Doe, “Patterns of Sexual Abuse and Assault,” Journal of Sexuality and Disability 9 (1991): 243-

259. 

13 Pub.L. 105-301. 14 Pub.L. 101-336. 

15 42 U.S.C. §12101 et. seq. 

16 29 U.S.C. §794 

17 42 U.S.C. §§3601 et. seq.