Disability, gender and intimate partner violence: Relationships from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Background/Significance: Research on women with disabilities has found that the most common perpetrators of violence were current or former intimate partners. (Add more) Objective/Purpose: This presentation compares the rate of intimate partner sexual and physical violence experience by women with disabilities compared to women without disabilities and men with and without disabilities using data from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Methods: Comparisons in intimate partner physical and sexual violence were made between women with disabilities compared to women without disabilities, and men with and without disabilities using chi square analysis. Demographic factors such as age, education, race/ethnicity, marital status and employment were also examined regarding their influence on the experience of intimate partner violence. Results: Statistically significant differences were found in the rate of intimate partner physical and sexual abuse for women with disabilities when compared to other populations. Women with disabilities experienced almost twice the rate of all forms of abuse compared to other populations. Demographic differences were found between women with disabilities who do and do not experience abuse. Discussion/Conclusion. These results add to previous studies which show that intimate partner physical and sexual violence is an issue not only for women, but even more so for vulnerable populations such as women with disabilities who may have fewer resources to escape a violent situation. Increased effort must be made to provide prevention and intervention resources to women with disabilities who face intimate partner physical and sexual violence as this remains a significant public health issue.