People with disabilities who experience domestic violence may also experience additional barriers when seeking helping services. Consequences of not reporting can include some of the same risks as above and mean that a victim remains in the abusive situation. If the abuse is not reported, there is no opportunity to stop the abuse and, therefore, there is a greater likelihood that the abuse will be perpetuated in the present and future generations of the family and the community. Lack of knowledge about services. In addition, the available information generally does not define domestic violence in ways that people with disabilities can relate to.
Domestic violence is often invisible in the lives of people with disabilities.
People with disabilities do not relate to public awareness education because it is not distributed in formats needed or in places where people with disabilities will access it. Additionally, the general public does not consider that domestic violence happens to people with disabilities. Although not much research has been done on victims of domestic violence with disabilities, some research has shown that regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or class, women with disabilities are assaulted, raped and abused at a rate more than two times greater than are non-disabled women. Yet, these crimes are less likely to be reported and usually are handled administratively, within service programs, rather than through the criminal justice system. People with disabilities often lack accessible services.