Women with disabilities at risk for partner abuse

[Guest guest]

Women with disabilities at risk for partner abuse

http://medicalnewscenter.com/out/out.cgi?

http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/healthNews/~3/JvinTwWhmx4/idUSTRE4

9Q5LJ20081027

A new study shows that women with a disability are far more likely to

experience a physical assault by a spouse or other intimate partner

than those without a disability.

Intimate partner violence is " an understudied issue in much need of

attention, " Dr. Armor, who led the study, told Reuters

Health. " We need to ensure that prevention initiatives designed to

reduce intimate partner violence explicitly include the needs of

adults with disabilities (e.g. ensuring shelters are accessible).

To estimate disability prevalence and differences in intimate partner

abuse among women with and without a disability, Armor and his

colleagues from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

Atlanta, analyzed data from the CDC's 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor

Surveillance System -- a large annual telephone survey of Americans

designed to monitor the prevalence of key health behaviors.

They found that women with a disability were significantly more

likely than women without a disability to report experiencing some

from of intimate partner violence in their lifetime (37.3 percent

versus 20.6 percent).

Women with a disability were more likely to report ever being

threatened with violence (28.5 percent vs 15.4 percent) and hit,

slapped, pushed, kicked or physically hurt (30.6 percent vs. 15.7

percent) by an intimate partner.

Women with a disability were also much more apt to report a history

of unwanted sex by an intimate partner (19.7 percent vs 8.2 percent).

" Future work is needed to get at why " this is so, said Armor, who

reported the findings today at the American Public Health

Association's annual meeting in San Diego.

" Perhaps, women with disabilities are vulnerable to intimate partner

violence because their disability might limit mobility and prevent

escape; shelters might not be available or accessible to women with

disabilities; the disability might adversely affect communication and

thus the ability to alert others or the perpetrator might control or

restrict the victim's ability to alert others to the problem. "

Fear is another possibility, Armor said. " That is, a catch-22,

stemming from reliance on the perpetrator for caregiving needs that

might go unmet or lead to some form of undesirable placement if they

tell authorities. "

He concluded, " Since intimate partner violence is a public help

problem, we need to ensure that prevention strategies for people with

disabilities are widely adopted. "

[Guest guest]

I say AMEN!!! I agree totally. Before my husband and I knew the name for

disability, he was pushing me around, scraping up the bottoms of my feet,

pushing me down, and generally making me feel very much afraid of what would

happen if I told someone. But I would recommend to anyone who thinks that they

might be in an abusive relantionship to seek help from someone. I had my husband

arrested on domestic violence charges, five years ago. We got back together 4

months later, and he had a lot of counseling, and trusted friends said he was

getting better.

Nina in Stockton, CA

[Guest guest]

I know this is so true, I am going through it right now. I cannot  tell my

family. They would want to kill him.

[Guest guest]

I also was abused. Not by just one guys but also by many people...I won't take

it..anymore, ever again !! I trusted too much and too long expecting a change

and the change would come but only temporally..

It can do a job on ones mind ..it did on mine. I still wonder why...what did I

do to be treated less then a dog.......Be ever so careful..They are not better

then you are!

Geri