Crime Against Persons With Disabilities Are 2.5 Times Higher Than Those without Disabilities

July 2017 - The U.S. Department of Justice released the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) estimates of nonfatal violent crime (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault) against persons age 12 or older with disabilities. Disabilities are classified according to six limitations: hearing, vision, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care, and independent living. The report compares the victimization of persons with and without disabilities living in noninstitutionalized households, including distributions by sex, race, Hispanic origin, age, disability type, and other victim characteristics. It also includes crime characteristics, such as victim-offender relationship, time of crime, reporting to police, and use of victim services agencies. NCVS data were combined with data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey to generate victimization rates.

Highlights:

• During the 5-year aggregate period from 2011 to 2015, for each age group measured except persons age 65 or older, the rate of violent victimization against persons with disabilities was at least 2.5 times the unadjusted rate for those without disabilities.
• Among those with disabilities, persons ages 12 to 15 (144.1 per 1,000 age 12 or older) had the highest rate of violent victimization among all age groups measured.
• The rate of violent victimization against males with disabilities was 31.8 per 1,000, compared to 14.1 per 1,000 males without disabilities.
• For females with disabilities, the rate of violent victimization was 32.8 per 1,000, compared to 11.4 per 1,000 females without disabilities.
• Males and females had similar rates of total violent victimization in every disability type measured, except independent living disabilities.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is the nation's primary source of information on criminal victimization. Each year, data are obtained from a nationally representative sample of about 90,000 households, comprising nearly 160,000 persons, on the frequency, characteristics, and consequences of criminal victimization in the United States. The NCVS collects information on nonfatal personal crimes (rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated and simple assault, and personal larceny) and household property crimes (burglary, motor vehicle theft, and other theft) both reported and not reported to police. Survey respondents provide information about themselves (e.g., age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, marital status, education level, and income) and whether they experienced a victimization. For each victimization incident, the NCVS collects information about the offender (e.g., age, race and Hispanic origin, sex, and victim-offender relationship), characteristics of the crime (including time and place of occurrence, use of weapons, nature of injury, and economic consequences), whether the crime was reported to police, reasons the crime was or was not reported, and victim experiences with the criminal justice system.

Source:

Report by Erika Harrell, Ph.D., BJS Statistician, published July 11, 2017 - NCJ 250632

Part of the Crime Against People with Disabilities Series
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About the Source Data:
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)