And, be sure to watch your mail every month for a new publication in the Readings in Independent Living series. Carri George, Dawn Heinsohn, and Rose Shepard. Substantial support for development of this publication was provided by the Rehabilitation Services Administration, U.S. Department of Education. The content is the responsibility of ILRU and no official endorsement of the Department of Education should be inferred. Every 15 seconds a woman in this country is beaten and women with disabilities are not excluded from becoming a part of this statistic.
Abuse is a major issue for women with disabilities.
Even though research has not agreed on whether the incidence of abuse against women with disabilities is greater than that of non-disabled women, research has shown that disability does change the experience of the abuse. Some examples of why the experience of abuse differs between women with disabilities and those without disabilities include the inaccessibility of battered women's shelters and hot-line counselors who are not knowledgeable about disability issues. A woman with a disability may also be subjected to different forms of abuse, like the withholding of medications, orthotic equipment and the refusal to do personal care. It is hard to estimate the number of women and girls who have been raped in their homes, in institutions or on the streets. Investigations of long-term rehabilitation facilities found that women were being sterilized without their permission in order to hide the molestation that was occurring.