PrivacyCopyright and Disclaimer SitemapFeedbackHelpSearch
Home
About Us
Recent News
Current Projects
Publications - Active
Digest
Contribute to Law Reform
Law Reform Links
Contact Us
Where am I now? Lawlink > Law Reform Commission > Publications > Table 3: Victims - Estimated of Prevalence and types of crimes

Report 80 (1996) - People with an Intellectual Disability and the Criminal Justice System

Table 3: Victims - Estimated of Prevalence and types of crimes


1. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: 6.4% of adults referred to Sexual Assault Services of the NSW Department of Health had an intellectual disability.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): NSW: New South Wales Department of Health (1990) Adult Sexual Assault Data Collection, January-June 1989 cited in New South Wales - Women's Co-ordination Unit (1990) at 11.

2. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: Of intellectually disabled victims, 70.34% were sexually assaulted, 5.51% assaulted, 2.75% murdered, 1.37% theft victims and the remaining 20% victims of unspecified crimes.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): Victoria: Johnson, Andrew and Topp (1988) at Appendix 4.

3. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: Victimisation rated of people with an intellectual disability:

4. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: Offences against the person (assault, sexual assault, robbery, auto theft, other theft): 25.3% of people with an intellectual disability are likely to be a victim compared to 10.5% of the general population; Household offences (break and enter, household property theft): 13.3% of people with an intellectual disability are likely to be a victim compared to 9.8% of the general population.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): SA: Wilson (1990) at 7.

5. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: Intellectually disabled individuals are more likely than non-disabled adults to be the victims of personal and household offences.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): SA: Wilson and Brewer (1992) at 115.

6. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: 75% of intellectually disabled people studied had survived at least one sexual assault, 99% of which had been committed by a person known to the victim.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): USA: Seattle Rape Releif Project study cited in R Luckasson "People with mental retardation as victims of crime" in Conley, Luckasson and Bouthilet (eds) (1992) 209 at 210.

7. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: 25% of 87 adolescent females with an intellectual disability had been sexually abused.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): USA: A Chamberlain, J Rauh, A Passer, M McGrath and R Burket "Issues in fertility control for mentally retarded female adolescents: 1. Sexual activity, sexual abuse and contraception" (1984) cited in Tharinger, Burrows Horton and Millea (1990) at 304.

8. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: 1 in 30 cases of sexual abuse/assault of persons with an intellectual disability is reported compared with 1 in 5 cases in the non-disabled population.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): USA: S James "Sexual abuse of the handicapped" (1988) cited in Tharinger, Burrows Horton and Millea (1990) at 304.

9. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: 55 cases of abuse occured over 33 month period in four facilities for intellectual disability with a combined population of approximately 1,000:40 physical abuse; 7 verbal abuse; 4 sexual abuse; 3 behavioural abuse; 1 neglect.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): USA: Marchetti and McCartney (1990) at 368.

10. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: 83% of women and 43% of men of people with intellectual disabilities had been sexually assaulted.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): USA: S Hard Sexual abuse of the Developmentally Disabled: A Case Study (1986) cited in New South Wales - Women's Co-ordination Unit (1990) at 11.

11. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: 100,000 people with disabilities were raped in the USA in 1981, and the rate of other forms of sexual assault was considerably higher than this.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): USA: Centre for Women's Policy Studies "Sexual exploitation and abuse of people with disabilities" (1984) cited in New South Wales - Women's Co-ordination Unit (1990) at 11.

12. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: 4-5% of patients of British consultants have suffered abuse, predominantly sexual.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): UK: L Cooke "Abuse of mentally handicapped adults" (1990) cited in McCormack (1991) at 143.

13. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: 10% of all children with an intellectual disability have suffered sexual abuse.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): UK: A Baker and S Duncan "Child sex abuse: A study of prevalence i Great Britian" (1985) cited in McCormack (1991) at 143.

14. Victims with an Intellectual Disability: Of children with various levels of learning disability in a "subnormality" hospital: 22% were victims of physical abuse and 10% were at risk, and 11% could have been rendered learning disabled as a result of abuse.

Source (see Select Bibliography for full citation): UK: A Buchanan and J Oliver "Abuse and neglect as cause of mental retardation: A study of 140 children admitted to sub-normality hospitals in Wiltshire (1977) in Westcott (1991) at 246.

Back to Appendix B



Previous Page | Back to Lawlink Home | Top of Page
  Last updated 14 April 2000   Crown Copyright 2002 ©  
Hosted by
Lawlink NSW