PHM-Exch> Violence against persons with disabilities - research report

[Sunil Deepak]

Dear PHM friends,

The preliminary report of an emancipatory research carried out in Bidar district of India on "Violence against persons with Disabilities" is now available (in PDF) at the following link:

http://english.aifo.it/disability/documents/books_manuals/Violence_Bidar_Report_preliminary_final.pdf

Most of the research on violence has focused on women and girls. There is little research on violence against persons with disabilities. This initiative was a small effort to cover this gap. It does raise some serious questions. It showed that in the last 12 months, ¾ of interviewed women had faced violence and ¼ had experienced sexual violence. At the same time, the research showed that during childhood, both male and female children with disabilities face similar levels of violence and sexual violence.

With best wishes,

Sunil


Dr. Sunil Deepak
Head, Scientific Department
AIFO, Bologna - Italy
Email: sunil.deepak at aifo.it<mailto:sunil.deepak at aifo.it>
Webpage: http://english.aifo.it/


EMANCIPATORY RESEARCH ON VIOLENCE AGAINST PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
HIGHLIGHTS

This study of violence against persons with disabilities in the Bidar district of India involved 146 adults with different kinds of disabilities, who are participating in a CBR project who are also members of the local DPO. The research was carried out in November 2013. It was a joint initiative of four organizations - Bidar district DPO, ORBIT running a CBR programme in Bidar, the Amici Trust India and AIFO/Italy.

Researchers: The 21 researchers including DPO representatives and CBR personnel, 65% of whom were persons with disabilities, were trained to collect information and conduct structured interviews. Information gathered during the training of researchers showed that 43% of the researchers themselves had experienced significant violence during the previous 12 months, including 14% of researchers who had experienced sexual violence.

Sample: The research used a non-random consecutive sample composed of 146 persons, who represented about 40% of all the DPO members in three sub-districts of Bidar.

Main results:


·         58% of the sample reported that they had experienced significant violence during the previous 12 months including 14% who had experienced sexual violence.

·         Women faced greater violence compared to the men - in the last one year, three out of four women had experienced violence, while one out of four women had experienced sexual violence. In the same period, four out of ten men had reported violence and less than one out of ten had reported sexual violence.

·         While all the groups of persons with disabilities suffered violence, persons affected with leprosy and persons with visual disabilities reported the highest levels.

·         During childhood, male and female children with disabilities reported similar levels of violence (51% males and 59% females), including sexual violence (8% males and 10% females).

·         Among men with disabilities, violence decreased with age, men in the age group 31-45 years faced the lowest level of violence (29%).

·         Among women with disabilities violence increased with age. Women above 46 years of age faced the highest level of violence (85%).

·         A leadership role in DPO and active participation in DPO activities do not protect from violence, probably because in the research area, violence is a taboo area, seen as a personal/family issue and rarely discussed in the DPO.

·         Receiving pension, participation in the self-help groups and longer duration of participation in CBR activities provided some protection against violence, especially among women.

Conclusions: Violence against persons with disabilities is a serious issue affecting a large number of persons. CBR programmes need to do much more in this area to understand the extent of the problem and to test strategies to reduce and prevent it.



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