Intersectional thinking: violence and disability
- BOLT Safety
- May 8
- 4 min read
Contributors: Vedanshi (BOLT Safety Society), Emeline, Rajwardhan (BMI Trust)
CW: Discussion of violence against people with disabilities
This resource was created and launched in conjunction with the 69th Commission on the Status of Women, held at United Nations headquarters in NYC. Our team collaborated with NYC-based Disability Rights Advocate, Emeline Lakrout, to lend her expertise on this intersectional topic. Connect with Emeline on LinkedIn and Instagram. We also connected with Rajwardhan Joshi of BMI Trust, an Indian NGO, whose team works at a grassroots level to make communities more inclusive for people with disabilities (follow BMIT on Instagram and LinkedIn).
Please note that in this piece, we use the term ‘d/Disabled’, to acknowledge the varying language preferences of people within the disability community. This language is meant to respect both identity-first and person-first language preferences, and is inclusive of those who identify as culturally disabled.
Introduction
Violence manifests in many forms, starting with less overtly problematic behaviors like discriminatory jokes, or more obviously harmful behaviors like physical or verbal harassment, and escalating into sexual violence and domestic abuse. This progression of violence can be understood by the violence culture pyramid (and we have a resource article on that topic here).
Those whose identity falls at the intersection of multiple oppressed groups, based on their gender, sexuality, ability, or economic status, have a higher likelihood of experiencing violence (St. Olaf College, 2025).
This article will focus on illustrating some of the specific vulnerabilities that d/Disabled people face in terms of their safety, as well as provide suggestions for guiding allyship efforts and resources for those who have faced violence.
Key statistics
A 2021 meta-analysis involving over 12,000 participants by Amborski et al. found the following:
d/Disabled people face more than 2 times the risk of sexual victimization than persons without disabilities
The type of disability also affects rates of sexual victimization, with sensory impairment being associated with the highest risk
Individuals with a disability in Africa have the highest odds of sexual victimization globally
The problem
The disability community faces significant stereotyping and access barriers. Sexual violence in this community not only often goes unreported, but even when reported, resources are often difficult to access.
Barriers to consider include:
Stereotypes that portray disabled people as asexual, resulting in internalized shame and not being believed
Lack of digital accessibility for online resources, resulting in inability to report or access support for people with visual impairments or mobility disabilities that require keyboard navigation
Lack of physical accessibility to spaces like shelters, community centers, and law enforcement offices
Dependence on abusers for care, communication or financial support
Fear of losing access to social security or health insurance
Lack of access to sex education and resources on consent, causing survivors to not know the signs of exploitation
How to recognize sexual violence
According to the World Health Organization, sexual violence is “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, or other act directed against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting.” This includes physical, mental or emotional coercion, penetration or forcing a victim to penetrate the perpetrator or someone else, fondling or touching, or exposing someone to sexual images without consent.
For d/Disabled people, scenarios can include:
A personal care attendant (PCA) abusing vulnerable tasks like toileting or dressing to grab or fondle a person’s sexual body parts
An intimate partner acting unhappy or threatening to end a relationship if sexual acts are not performed, especially when paired with the threat of removing care and insinuations that the d/Disabled person is lucky to be in a romantic relationship at all
Use of discredited communication techniques like Facilitated Communication (FC) to fabricate consent from a d/Disabled person
A family member removing or destroying access to mobility devices, medication, or communication devices if sexual acts are not performed
A prominent figure within a disability community using their authority and influence to intimidate and coerce sexual acts
How to be an ally
Educate yourself and share resources on consent
Advocate for physical accessibility in your community. A helpful rule of thumb is to determine whether a shopping cart could be easily navigated through a space. Advocacy includes speaking to building owners, filing complaints, and sending letters to city officials.
Advocate for digital accessibility in your online communities. The only way to ensure a website is fully accessible is to conduct regular manual testing by an expert in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Contact site owners to ask if they do this already, and if not, encourage them to do so, so that blind people and people who require keyboard navigation can access resources.
Offer support to survivors in the form of care. Examples include going grocery shopping together, helping with cooking and cleaning, assisting with sorting through mail, etc
Believe d/Disabled people, and be a non-judgemental listener.
Hope in action: A case study from India
BMI Trust supports schools for students with visual impairments by supplying braille books and specially designed braille keyboards for those with partial vision. Their team has also facilitated critical surgeries for individuals with disabilities who need urgent and compassionate care. Inclusion and accessibility remain at the heart of their team's work.
Learn more about them here: https://bmitrust.in/
Find resources for survivors of violence in India: https://www.boltsafety.org/post/india-sexual-assault-resources
Resources:
If you or someone you know has experienced violence, a free database of resources are available on BOLT Safety Society’s Digital Platform.
If you are located in NYC, specifically, find local resources here.
If you suspect you are experiencing sexual violence from someone you depend on for care or daily living tasks, below are resources to help you find alternative sources of support:
The Hadley Institute offers a free online database of practical guidance for living fully independently with low or no vision. For additional support, blind individuals can also contact their state’s blindness/vocational rehabilitation agency, find a list here
Independent Living Centers offer advocacy, support, training, and referrals to enable people with a variety of disabilities to live independently in their local communities
Sources and further reading:
Comments