Study Finds That Nearly One Third of College Women With Disabilities Are Victims of Sexual Assault

Last week, WIAReport published news of a shocking survey conducted at Tulane University in New Orleans that found that 41 percent of undergraduate women students who responded to the survey reported that they had been victims of sexual assault since coming to campus. Now an equally shocking study from the National Council on Disability finds that nearly one third of all undergraduate women who have a disability have been victims of sexual misconduct.

According to the report, 31.6 percent of undergraduate females with disabilities reported nonconsensual sexual contact involving physical force or incapacitation. The report finds that resources for victims of sexual assault on college campuses may not be fully available to students with disabilities. The authors state that “students with disabilities remain on the periphery and are not addressed regarding sexual assault prevention, outreach, and services.” They note that when the government collects statistics on sexual assault, disabled students are not a demographic for which data is collected.

The full 79-page report, Not on the Radar: Sexual Assault of College Students With Disabilities, may be downloaded by clicking here.