Sexual Assault Awareness Month

TRIGGER WARNING This blog contains information about sexual assault and/or violence that may be triggering to survivors.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month, observed each April, is a campaign that aims to increase awareness about the causes and risk factors for sexual assault and empower individuals to take steps to prevent it in their communities. 

Sexual assault is higher amongst women and girls with disabilities; more awareness and training are needed to address the causes and risks. 

A recent survey conducted by researchers from Leeds, Oxford, Beijing and Columbia universities examined data measuring violence against children with disabilities. It was estimated that about one-third of young children and teenagers with disabilities face emotional and physical abuse, while 20% experience neglect and one in 10 sexual violence, according to the report. 

Analysis involving more than 16 million young people from 25 countries conducted between 1990 and 2020, published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health journal, shows that 31.7% of children with disabilities have experienced violence. They are twice as likely to face neglect and sexual, physical or mental abuse than children with no disabilities. They are also far more likely to be bullied by their peers. 

The research included 75 studies from high-income countries and 23 studies from seven low-income countries and middle-income countries. The report showed higher rates of violence in low-income countries. The authors concluded that stigma, discrimination, lack of information about disability, and inadequate access to social support for carers were contributory factors, as well as poverty and social isolation. 

Violence against women and girls with disabilities is a significant issue related to gender and disability-based discrimination and exclusion. Combined, these two factors result in an extremely high risk of violence against girls and women with disabilities. 

According to the UN, available data shows a higher rate of violence against women with disabilities than women and girls without disabilities. With girls of disabilities are at greater risk of being victims of violence. In many cases, perpetrators of violence are caregivers, either at home or in institutional settings. Females with disabilities often find themselves trapped by violent partners or family members because they are financially and socially dependent on them for survival. 

For women and girls with disabilities, the process for reporting violence is often inaccessible because of inadequate policies and standards, negative attitudes, discrimination, physical access, informal availability, lack of training, communication, lack of service provision, insufficient funding and fundamentally a lack of involving women with disabilities in decisions that directly affect their lives. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated violence against women and more so for females with disabilities. Lockdowns and job losses have increased familial stress while increasing the isolation and risks to vulnerable children, including those with disabilities. 

The UN sustainable development goals aim to end violence against children by 2030. Yet more than 1 billion children are estimated to experience violence - directly or indirectly - each year. 

EmbraceAbility responds to violence against women and girls with disabilities in Cambodia by running workshops on domestic violence and including information for beneficiaries through our sexual and reproductive health workshops. 

You can donate to the #BreaktheBias campaign to ensure we can reach more girls with disabilities in Cambodia.