233 Broadway, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10279 212 334 1300

Sexual Victimization of Men with Disabilities 
and Deaf Men: A National Snapshot

Allison Hastings and Sandra Harrell

July 2017

Brief

Introduction

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) 
defines disability as any “physical or 
mental impairment that substantially 
limits one or more major life activities.”1 
Major life activities include seeing, 
hearing, reading, walking, and eating. 
Based on this definition, approximately 
20 percent of Americans have a 
disability.2 Unfortunately, research 
suggests that having a disability may 
increase a person’s risk for experiencing 
victimization. Based on the most recent 
national estimates, the rate of violent 
victimization against people with 
disabilities was more than twice the rate 
for those without disabilities.3 The rate 
of serious violent victimization (including 
sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated 
assault) was more than three times 
higher than the rate for people without 
disabilities. Studies also show that people 
with disabilities have a higher probability 
of repeat victimization, and by multiple 
perpetrators.4 

Since 2005, the Vera Institute of 
Justice (Vera) has been working within 
communities to address victimization 
of people with disabilities. In those 
communities, we have heard a common 
refrain: At the intersection of violence 
and disability, men with disabilities 
experience domestic and sexual violence 
at rates higher than their counterparts 
without disabilities. Because so much of 
the narrative surrounding domestic and 
sexual violence has assumed that the 
primary victims are female, Vera sought 
to better understand the victimization 
experiences of male survivors with 
disabilities and those who are Deaf and 
delineate the challenges they face when 
accessing victim services. In partnership 
with the U.S. Department of Justice’s 
Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), 
Vera’s Center on Victimization and Safety 
launched a project to explore these issues 
in depth. The goal was to raise awareness 
of these underserved survivors, build 
consensus about the barriers to services, 
and begin identifying potential solutions. 



Sexual Victimization of Men with Disabilities and Deaf Men: A National Snapshot

2

Doing so will help to lay a foundation to 
promote reforms that enhance services 
and justice-system responses for male 
victims of sexual assault who have 
disabilities or who are Deaf. While the 
entry point into this project was to gain 
a better understanding of domestic and 
sexual violence in the lives of men with 
disabilities and the obstacles they may 
face when seeking services for both 
types of crime, the existing research on 
domestic violence was far too limited to 
draw any conclusions. As such, the focus 
of the project was narrowed specifically 
to understanding their experiences with 
seeking services for sexual victimization.

This brief presents the project 
findings. It gives an overview of the 
latest research on the incidence and 
prevalence of sexual violence in the lives 
of men with disabilities and Deaf men, 
identifies gaps in the field’s knowledge on 
the subject, and documents the unique 
barriers both groups face in accessing 
services. It concludes by looking ahead 
to how additional research, public policy 
changes, and educational efforts can 
contribute to ending the victimization of 
men with disabilities and Deaf men. 

Approach

In the project’s initial phase, Vera 
conducted a comprehensive literature 
review. This review encompassed 33 peer-
reviewed empirical studies that included 
men with disabilities and/or Deaf men in 
their sampling methodology and reported 
victimization-related findings by gender 
and disability/Deafness. Reviewing the 
literature revealed what researchers have 

Understanding Deaf culture

Although the ADA definition of disability 
includes people who are hard of 
hearing and who are Deaf, many Deaf 
people do not identify as having a 
disability. Instead, they view themselves 
as members of a distinct cultural group 
in the United States. Like any culture, 
Deaf culture is defined by its unique 
language, values, behavioral norms, 
and traditions. An uppercase “D” in 
“Deaf” is used to reflect identification 
with Deaf culture, whereas a lowercase 
“d” in “deaf” reflects an audiological 
condition defined by hearing loss.

Most research studies pertaining 
to disability include deafness as a 
type of disability. In this brief, Vera 
distinguishes people who are Deaf from 
people who have disabilities. Therefore, 
in citing data that holds true for both 
people with disabilities and Deaf 
people, the brief explicitly names those 
groups as separate populations.



3

Vera Institute of Justice

learned to date about sexual victimization 
of men with disabilities and Deaf men. 
However, to understand the context for 
that data and gain a fuller understanding 
of on-the-ground experience of advocates, 
male survivors, and service providers, 
Vera staff interviewed subject matter 
experts and key stakeholders in the areas 
of disability rights, Deaf advocacy, 
and male victimization, including self-
advocates, survivors, and practitioners. 
In these interviews, the researchers asked 
questions about the experiences of male 
victims with disabilities, Deaf men, the 
victim resources available to both, and the 
barriers they face in availing themselves 
of those resources. 

With the results of the literature 
review and interviews in hand, Vera 
staff created a framework for a two-day 
roundtable discussion to deepen the 
collective understanding of gaps in and 
barriers to services and policies related to 
male survivors with disabilities and those 
who are Deaf. The two days of discussion 
included many of the stakeholders and 
experts interviewed. They consisted 
of a series of facilitated conversations 
designed to elicit ideas about how 
to discuss and understand sexual 
victimization of men with disabilities and 
Deaf men, barriers to victim reporting and 
services, survivor needs, and the existing 
organizational capacity of victim service 
programs to meet those needs. During the 
conversations, the group began identifying 
potential solutions to some of these 
barriers and needs and discussed overall 
implications for the victim services field.

What the research shows 
about men with disabilities 
and Deaf men

The research on the victimization of men 
with disabilities and Deaf men is sparse, 
but its findings are consistent: Virtually 
all of the studies illustrate high rates of 
victimization among men with disabilities 
and Deaf men. In particular, studies 
done over the past 20 years have found 
that they are at much greater risk for 
sexual victimization than men without 
disabilities.5 

They experience higher rates of 
sexual violence and other forms 
of violent victimization than men 
without disabilities

An analysis of data collected from the 
2010 National Intimate Partner and Sexual 
Violence Survey found that men with 
disabilities and Deaf men were twice 
as likely as their counterparts without 
disabilities to experience sexual violence 



Sexual Victimization of Men with Disabilities and Deaf Men: A National Snapshot

other than rape—which included types 
of sexual coercion and unwanted sexual 
contact (and noncontact such as being 
flashed or forced to view sexually explicit 
media) that are not defined as forcible 
penetration.6 

In 2007, the National Crime 
Victimization Survey (NCVS) began asking 
questions about disability. Every year 
since 2007, the data show that men with 
disabilities and Deaf men are victimized at 
a higher rate than both men and women 
without disabilities.7 Based on the 2013 
survey, the rate of violent victimization 
(sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated 
assault) against men with disabilities and 
Deaf men was more than twice the rate 
of violent victimization of men without 
disabilities.8

In Massachusetts, researchers 
analyzed rates of sexual violence against 
men with disabilities and Deaf men 
compared with sexual violence rates 
against men without disabilities. They 
found that the prevalence of lifetime 
sexual violent victimization was 14 percent 
among men with disabilities/Deaf men, 
compared to 4 percent among men 
without disabilities.9

In one of the few studies that 
compared Deaf victimization rates to the 
rates of victimization among the general 
population, Deaf men were more than 
three times as likely than their hearing 
counterparts to report lifetime and past-
year forced sexual activity.10 In another 
study of 79 Deaf adults, nearly 45 percent 
of the men reported at least one form of 
sexual abuse (sexual assault or some other 
unwanted experience) in their lifetime.11 

What stakeholders shared 
about men with disabilities 
and Deaf men

Vera’s interviews and two-day roundtable 
discussion with stakeholders in the areas 
of disability rights, Deaf advocacy, 
and male victimization, including self-
advocates, survivors, and practitioners, 
yielded a number of valuable 
observations. The following points 
summarize those conversations.

Gender creates unique barriers 
for male victims 

Western society associates masculinity 
with physical strength, independence, 
and power. At the same time, it associates 
victimization, especially sexual 
victimization, with weakness. Because 
of this, it is difficult for any man who 
has experienced victimization, and in 
particular sexual victimization, to come 
forward. Advocates at the roundtable 



Vera Institute of Justice

Unanswered questions

Although existing studies demonstrate 
that men with disabilities and Deaf 
men are at increased risk for sexual 
victimization, they fail to explain 
the variations in rates of violence 
and experiences among people with 
different types of disabilities. They also 
do not characterize the perpetrators 
of this violence or the circumstances 
surrounding the abuse. There is a dearth 
of information on the types of violent 
victimization that are most common 
among men with differing disabilities, 
including physical disabilities, and Deaf 
men. Additionally, while existing data 
reveal high rates of sexual violence 
in the lives of men with disabilities, 
there has been little examination of 
their experiences with intimate partner 
violence. How often men with disabilities 
experience intimate partner violence, 
what some of the unique dynamics 
may be, and the relationship between 
intimate partner violence and abuse 
by personal care attendants all require 
additional research. Finally, although 
some studies have attempted to 
understand the relationship between 
sexual orientation and experiences of 
sexual victimization, there is limited 
information about the victimization 
experiences of gay and bisexual men. 
In its analysis of sexual victimization 
experiences by sexual orientation, 
the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention found that 40.2 percent of 
gay men and 47.4 percent of bisexual 
men had experienced sexual violence 
other than rape, compared with 20.8 
percent of heterosexual men.a

Information about the relationship 
between gender identity and experiences 
of sexual victimization is also limited, but 
some estimates suggest that 50 percent 
of transgender people have experienced 
sexual violence.b Understanding the 
sexual victimization experiences of men 
with disabilities who are gay, bisexual, or 
transgender requires additional research.

aM.L. Walters, J. Chen, and M.J. Breiding, 
The National Intimate Partner and Sexual 
Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Findings 
on Victimization by Sexual Orientation, 
(Atlanta, Georgia: National Center for 
Injury Prevention and Control, Centers 
for Disease Control and Prevention, 
2013), https://perma.cc/HQ6C-852K.

bFORGE, Transgender Rates of Violence: 
Victim Service Providers’ Fact Sheet #6, 
(Milwaukee, Wisconsin: FORGE, 2012), 
https://perma.cc/BHH4-HFFR.



Sexual Victimization of Men with Disabilities and Deaf Men: A National Snapshot

spoke about the silencing effect that this 
dynamic can have on male survivors, 
who may fear that their masculinity will 
be perceived as compromised if they 
come forward as a victim. For men with 
disabilities, societal stereotypes about 
disability may compound this barrier 
because people with disabilities are 
often viewed as dependent and weak. 
Because society values and privileges 
masculinity, the threat of having that 
masculinity undermined may make it 
nearly impossible to reach out for help. 

Anecdotal evidence suggests that 
men with disabilities and Deaf men may 
experience additional barriers to services 
and the justice system associated with 
their gender, given that services designed 
to address sexual violence originally 
emerged to address the epidemic of 
violence against women. While services 
for survivors of sexual assault have made 
strides to be more inclusive of male 
survivors, barriers persist. For instance, 
victim outreach initiatives and prevention 
campaigns may not speak directly to 
male survivors. In some cases, men may 
not be able to participate in all services, 
particularly if programs have worked to 
preserve some women-only spaces such 
as support groups. In other cases, male 
survivors may want a male-only space 
that is not offered. Staff may not be 
trained to understand the unique trauma 
male survivors experience. Curricula 
and other program approaches may not 
reflect male survivors or their experiences 
and needs. These dynamics may leave 
male survivors unable to receive supports 
that are appropriate and effective.

The presence of a disability may make 
it even more difficult to access help

Roundtable participants highlighted that 
having a disability can create barriers 
for male survivors with disabilities when 
they attempt to access services, often 
citing the experience of their female 
counterparts. Stakeholders noted common 
barriers that exist within victim services 
and disability agencies that make it 
difficult for people with disabilities to 
get help in the aftermath of a sexual 
assault. For instance, victim services often 
have physical barriers—such as steps 
to the entrance, narrow doorways, and 
inaccessible restrooms—that prevent 
survivors with disabilities from using their 
services. On the other hand, disability 
organizations are often not equipped 
to respond to the unique dynamics of 
violence against women. Moreover, a lack 
of cross-system collaboration prevents 
the sharing of resources and knowledge 
to address the gaps between service 
providers—victim services and disability—
and the criminal justice system.

 



Vera Institute of Justice

Victim services present programmatic 
barriers as well—for both male and 
female survivors with disabilities—who 
may have unique experiences of violence 
related to having a disability. For 
instance, perpetrators can be caregivers 
or other service providers such as 
drivers or personal care assistants, who 
are connected to their victims through 
their disability. Victim service providers 
may not fully understand how these 
relationships create unique power and 
control dynamics that pose greater 
safety risks for people with disabilities. 
Personal care attendants, for example, 
typically have access to most aspects of 
a person’s life, including daily activities, 
relationships, and finances. People 
with disabilities, particularly those with 
intellectual or cognitive disabilities, may 
have been taught to comply with those 
who control their daily activities, or they 
may not have received any education 
about sexual health or appropriate 
boundaries. These realities may make it 
difficult for some people with disabilities, 
including men, to recognize abuse by 
an authority figure. If these unique 
experiences, perpetrators, and dynamics 
are not reflected in the victim-services 
providers’ programmatic tools and 
resources, staff at these agencies may 
not be able to fully support survivors with 
disabilities. 

Other important and critical concerns 
for all survivors with disabilities, including 
men, are the unique dynamics and risks 
related to where they receive services 
for their disabilities. For instance, men 
with disabilities who live in congregate 
settings such as group homes and long-
term care facilities may experience 
abuse by another resident or a staff 
person from whom they have very little 
separation. Reporting the assault may 
trigger a number of responses that the 
victim may not want, including transfer to 
another facility, perhaps even in another 
city. Additionally, men with disabilities 
who are sexually abused in group homes, 
long-term care facilities, or day programs 
within disability organizations may not 
have access to outside help in reporting 
the assault to the authorities, especially 
if the organization attempts to address 
the issue internally. For their part, victim 
service providers may not fully understand 
how central disability organizations are 
in the lives of people with disabilities. 
Often, people with disabilities have 
longstanding relationships with these 
organizations and rely on their services to 
help them maintain their independence, 
autonomy, and sense of community. Thus, 



Sexual Victimization of Men with Disabilities and Deaf Men: A National Snapshot

experiencing abuse within these settings 
may be especially devastating for these 
survivors, who may experience a loss of 
community in addition to the trauma of 
the violence. Victim service providers, 
who do not regularly work with disability 
organizations or people with disabilities, 
may not appreciate the magnitude of that 
loss and, therefore, may fail to address it 
as part of the healing process. 

Survivors who are Deaf face unique 
challenges to seeking help 

Deaf male survivors may be isolated 
from outreach efforts and victim services 
because of communication barriers. If 
the service provider is able to supply 
an interpreter, that may address the 
communication barrier, but it may also 
raise concerns for the survivor about 
confidentiality. Deaf survivors may also 
encounter well-meaning and skilled 
professionals who, nonetheless, have 
never received training or education 
about Deaf culture. 

Looking ahead

There is much more to learn about 
male survivors with disabilities. More 
analysis into the unique experiences 
men with disabilities have because of 
intersecting identities of being male 
and having a disability is crucial to 
acquiring that knowledge. And more 
research needs to be done to understand 
how these dynamics shift when other 
factors such as race, ethnicity, gender 
identity, and sexual orientation are 
layered into the equation. To do this 
work well, the stakeholders at Vera’s 
roundtable discussion agreed that 
sexual assault advocates and service 
providers (such as sexual assault nurse 
examiners), disability advocates, Deaf 
advocates, criminal justice professionals, 
researchers, self-advocates, male 
survivors, and other allies need to work 
together to better understand this issue 
and to create appropriate avenues 
for supporting male survivors with 
disabilities. Specifically, stakeholders 
expressed the need to collaborate in 
order to: 

› conduct research to better understand 
the unique dynamics, perpetrators, 
and contexts surrounding sexual abuse 
of men with disabilities and Deaf men;

› develop programmatic resources 
specific to male survivors 
with disabilities and Deaf men;

› establish guidance for victim service 
providers on how to craft policies and 
practices that make male survivors 




Vera Institute of Justice

with disabilities and Deaf men feel 
welcome and supported;

› ensure that therapeutic interventions 
and training curricula reflect the 
experiences and needs of male survivors 
with disabilities and Deaf men;

› create educational and prevention 
materials for consumers of various 
services (including victim, disability, 
and Deaf) that are accessible to and 
take into account male survivors with 
disabilities and those who are Deaf; and

› promote sustainability by advocating 
for ongoing, dedicated funding that 
builds the capacity of organizations 
to effectively address sexual violence 
against men with disabilities and 
Deaf men.

Efforts like these should help to 
increase public awareness of abuse 
against men with disabilities and 
Deaf men, improve outreach to these 
underserved survivors, and result in the 
development of accessible and culturally 
competent resources and services.



Sexual Victimization of Men with Disabilities and Deaf Men: A National Snapshot

Endnotes

1 Americans with Disabilities Act, 
“Americans with Disabilities Act of 
1990, As Amended,” 
https://perma.cc/ATJ8-4AZG.

2 Matthew W. Brault, “Americans with 
Disabilities: 2010,” (Washington, 
DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, 
Economics and Statistics Administration, 
U.S. Census Bureau, 2012) 
https://perma.cc/FLU8-EUZ4.

3 Erika Harrell, Crime Against Persons 
with Disabilities, 2009–2013 – 
Statistical Tables, (Washington, DC: 
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of 
Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, 2015). 

4 James Schaller and Jennifer 
Lagergren Fieber, “Issues of abuse 
for women with disabilities and 
implication for rehabilitative 
counseling,” Journal of Applied 
Rehabilitation Counseling 29 (1998): 
9–17; Dick Sobsey and Tanis Doe, 
“Patterns of sexual abuse and 
assault,” Sexuality and Disability 9, 
no. 3 (1991): 243–258.

5 Harrell, Crime Against Persons with 
Disabilities, 2009–2013 – Statistical 
Tables.

6 Matthew J. Breiding and Brian S. 
Armour, “The association between 
disability and intimate partner 
violence in the United States,” Annals 
of Epidemiology 25, no. 6 (June 2015): 
455–457. 

7 Michael R. Rand and Erika Harrell, 
Crime Against People with Disabilities, 
2007 (Washington, DC: U.S. 
Department of Justice, Office of 
Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice 
Statistics, 2009). Harrell, Crimes 
Against Persons with Disabilities, 
2009–2013 – Statistical Tables. In these 
reports, the researchers used age-
adjusted rates to make comparisons 
between victims with disabilities 
and those who are Deaf and those 
without disabilities. They report that 
victimized people with disabilities 
and Deaf people are generally older 
than persons without disabilities and 
that violent victimization rates vary 
significantly by age. By using age-
adjusted rates, the researchers can 
show what the victimization rate would 
be if people without disabilities had 
the same age distribution as those 
with disabilities and Deaf people.



Vera Institute of Justice

8 See Harrell, Crime Against Persons with 
Disabilities, 2009–2013 – Statistical 
Tables. In this report, the researchers 
report that 37 per 1,000 men with 
disabilities were victims of violence, 
compared to a victimization rate of 16 
per 1,000 men without disabilities. 

9 Monika Mitra, Vera E. Mouradian, 
and Marci Diamond, “Sexual 
violence victimization against men 
with disabilities,” American Journal 
of Preventive Medicine 41, no. 5 
(November 2011): 494–497. 

10 Robert Q. Pollard, Erika Sutter, and 
Catherine Cerulli, “Intimate Partner 
Violence Reported by Two Samples 
of Deaf Adults via a Computerized 
American Sign Language Survey,” 
Journal of Interpersonal Violence 29, 
no.5 (October 2013): 948–965.

11 Sven Schild and Constance 
Dalenbert, “Trauma exposure and 
traumatic symptoms in deaf adults,” 
Psychological Trauma: Theory, 
Research, Practice, and Policy 4, no. 1 
(January 2012): 117–127.



For more information

The Vera Institute of Justice is a justice 
reform change agent. Vera produces 
ideas, analysis, and research that inspire 
change in the systems people rely upon 
for safety and justice, and works in close 
partnership with government and civic 
leaders to implement it. Vera’s Center 
on Victimization and Safety is currently 
pursuing core priorities of expanding 
healing services to underserved victims 
of crime, improving access to victim 
services for people with disabilities and 
Deaf people, and ensuring that justice 
systems more effectively serve America’s 
increasingly diverse communities. For 
more information, visit www.vera.org.

An electronic version of this brief is 
available for download on Vera’s web site, 
at www.vera.org/sexual-victimization-men-
disabilities-deaf.

Requests for additional information about 
this brief should be directed to the Center 
on Victimization and Safety, cvs@vera.org.

This project was supported by Grant 
No. 2014-TA-AX-K002 awarded by the U.S. 
Department of Justice (DOJ), Office 
on Violence Against Women (OVW). 
The opinions, findings, conclusions and 
recommendations, expressed in this 
publication are those of the author(s) 
and do not necessarily reflect the views 
of DOJ, OVW.

The authors would like to thank the 
stakeholders who participated in interviews 
and the roundtable discussions to help 
develop this brief. Those stakeholders 
include: Nora Baledarian, Kelly Buckland, 
Leigh Ann Davis, Aaron Gutzke, Mary 
Hettle, Dave Kot, Steve LePore, Randy 
Lizotte, Dan Maley, James Meadors, 
Michael Munson, Julie Petty, Roberta Sick, 
Eric Stiles, Karen Topper, and Nancy Ward.

Thank you also to Johnny Rice and 
Jaclyn Smith for their contributions to 
this report. The authors are also indebted 
to the contributions of Amy Judy, 
who passed away before the brief’s 
completion. The authors would also like 
to thank the victims and survivors of 
violence who have disabilities who have 
voiced their experiences and informed 
our work and practice over the past 
decade. Thank you to Mary Crowley, 
Ram Subramanian, and Erika Turner of 
Vera’s Communications Department for 
their guidance in bringing this publication 
to fruition, Alice Chasan for her editorial 
oversight, and Stephanie Grey for the 
design and layout.