[Blog] International Day : End the silence on violence against persons with disabilities

*In the context of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3rd December). End the silence on violence against persons with disabilities.

In UN language, there is a concept called intersectionality. It stipulates that a person's multiple identities such as being a woman, being black or being a migrant, being gay or being disabled combine to enhance and compound discrimination, disadvantages and victimization against the individual. That is why UN recommends that the lens of intersectionality be adopted when tackling issues such as gender-based violence or other ills of society.

It is noted with great satisfaction that a vast campaign has been launched by the authorities to denounce gender-based violence at national level. What is however obfuscated and hidden under the rugs is the phenomenon of violence against women and girls with disabilities or people with disabilities in general. There is a deafening silence on this dysfunction of society as if it is a taboo. Yet violence against persons with disabilities is widespread and common as evidenced by studies carried out in other societies.

A report in 2012 by the United States Bureau of Justice revealed that the rate of violence for males with disabilities was 42 per 1000 compared to 22 per 1000 for males without disabilities. For females with disabilities, the rate was 53 per 1000 compared to 17 per 1000 for females without disabilities. It was found that in institutional settings, the environment was more susceptible to abuse in the form, for example, of forced intake of psychotropic drugs or forced psychiatric treatment, denial of health and reproductive rights or even forced sterilization.

A study by Sullivan (2000) revealed that children with disabilities were more than twice likely to experience physical and sexual violence and Rousso (2003) unveiled that girls with disabilities suffered high rates of abuse and violence resulting in "health risks, trauma, adolescent pregnancy and susceptible to HIV/AIDS". With regards to categories of disabled persons, people with little or no functional speech and people with developmental disabilities are twice at risk of "being sexually abused, assaulted and raped" as compared to their non-disabled peers.

In a South African study of 2005, Naidu, Haffejee, Vetten & Hargreaves detail the various forms of abuse and violence to which persons with disabilities are subjected. They make a distinction between active and passive violence; in other words what is done and what is not done. Active violence involves, inter alia, physical, emotional, sexual, verbal and financial abuse, bullying, name-calling (e.g. 'langaro' 'casse patte' 'bhayra' 'pagla' in the Mauritian context), destruction of medical equipment and communication devices, overdosing or inappropriate administering of medications and so on.

Passive violence refers to physical and emotional neglect, discriminatory actions that may result in physical and psychological harm (for example removing or changing the 'point de repère' for blind persons, keeping the person in isolation, threatening him/her of physical abuse, withholding of equipment and medications etc).

Who are the perpetrators? Studies have revealed that the majority of them are known to the victims. The report of Sobsey and Doe (1991) pointed out that 19% were family or stepfamily members, 15.2% were acquaintances, 44% were those who interacted with the victims on a regular basis (service providers, medical staff, transportation staff, foster parents, etc). The incidence is so high among the latter because they are "aware of the victims' vulnerabilities" and know that the victims are "unable to seek help or report the crime".

The last question is: why is the rate of denunciation so low? This is because many victims do not know their rights or are unable to communicate and explain the ordeal they have gone through. Then there is dependence of persons with disabilities on caregivers for activities of daily living. Denouncing them may mean facing repercussions and losing their support or facing threats and intimidation. On the other hand, according to Williams, "police, lawyers, protection systems, judges... have little or no knowledge on how to help victims with disabilities".

In Mauritius, unfortunately, no study has been carried out on violence against persons with disabilities. That does not mean it is not prevalent. It is hidden, invisible and pushed under the rugs. It is high time to break the taboo and end the silence.

Azize Bankur

Source: Stop Violence Against People with Disabilities, Pretoria University Law Press, 2014.