Disability and sexual violence: official statistics from England and Wales

Disabled people face a significantly higher risk of experiencing sexual violence compared to non-disabled people. Yet, historically, the attention paid to disability as a demographic risk factor in evaluations of official statistics has been sketchy at best. A recent development is that the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) now includes disability in releases reporting victim characteristics from the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW). This paper synthesises key findings about sexual violence, including that risk is nearly twice as high for disabled people. Nevertheless, some of the most at-risk disabled individuals, such as those in institutional settings, are excluded from these official statistics, which means these are likely underestimates. Still, it is hoped that mainstreaming awareness of the disproportionate risks experienced by disabled people will help to inform policy making and service design in the context of the UK government’s Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) strategy.