‘Alarming’ report from disability royal commission released just hours after March 4 Justice protests
Mon 15 Mar 2021 16.30 GMT
Last modified on Mon 15 Mar 2021 16.32 GMT
Young women with a disability are twice as likely to experience sexual violence than those without a disability, the royal commission has found.
The disability royal commission on Monday night released a new research report only hours after tens of thousands of women rallied across the country in protest against gender discrimination and violence.
Overall, the report revealed nearly two-thirds (64%) of people with disability reported experiencing physical or sexual violence, intimate partner violence, emotional abuse or stalking over the course of a lifetime.
That compared with 45% of people without disability, according to the report from the Centre of Research Excellence in Disability and Health.
The report, described by the commission as “alarming”, said that among young women aged 18 to 29, people with disability were twice as likely to report experiencing sexual violence over their lifetime than those without a disability.
In the past 12 months, people with disability were at 2.2 times the risk of sexual violence and at 2.6 times the risk of intimate partner violence compared to those without disability.
They were also at 2.4 times the risk of being stalked than people without disability, with women at the most risk of experiencing the behaviour, the report said.
Other findings included that men with disability were 2.6 times more likely to report sexual violence, compared to men without a disability, and that people with cognitive and psychological impairments were more likely to have experienced violence than those with other impairments.
Another factor was economic position, with people with disability living in financial hardship three times more likely to experience violence.
One of the report’s authors, Dr Georgina Sutherland, said the commission had asked the researchers to examine the extent and nature of violence against people with disability and their findings showed it was a “real problem”.
“Young people, particularly young women, are at risk of sexual violence,” she said. “We know that. But the risk is heightened for people with disability.
“As this report will show, the risk is sometimes two-fold for people with disability in comparison to people without disabilities. It’s a huge problem, particularly for young women in Australia. It’s an even bigger problem for young women with disability.”
The report, titled “Nature and extent of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation against people with disability in Australia”, was compiled from responses to the Personal Safety Survey, a national survey administered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics that collects data on experiences of interpersonal violence every four years.
Sutherland said it was the best data available but was still a “partial picture”, meaning it “almost definitely represents what’s actually happening for people with disability”.
Sutherland, who attended the March 4 Justice rally on Monday, said women with disability had been sharing their stories of violence and abuse for decades.
“Women with disability do share their experiences of disclosing violence, and they’re discredited, they’re ignored,” she said. “I think that’s the reason we have a royal commission.”
Last month, the commission heard from Melanie, a pseudonym given to a First Nations woman with a cognitive disability who was allegedly subjected to sexual, physical and psychological abuse as a child.
Melanie ended up in the justice system and spent seven years in isolation at a forensic hospital after being transferred from prison.
She told the commission: “I have had a bad upbringing, but I’m a strong, proud, black Aboriginal woman that is here before you today to come and get help where I need it and fight for my rights.”
The commission has also heard cases of physical and sexual abuse in supported accommodation, perpetrated by staff, according to its interim report.
The report comes as the Morrison government faces scrutiny over its failure to legislate greater privacy protections to protect the anonymity of whistleblowers who want to come forward to give evidence at the royal commission.
Labor wrote to the government on Monday urging it to grant the royal commission’s request for an extension to its work, after Guardian Australia revealed the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and the attorney general, Christian Porter, had not responded to the commission for four months.
If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault or family violence, call 1800-RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. Disability counselling services are also available at the National Counselling and Referral Service on 1800 421 468. Support is free, independent and confidential. www.dss.gov.au/disability-royal-commission-support
