Persons with activity limitations less satisfied with police response

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The literature not only points to several factors that might increase the vulnerability of disabled persons to crime, but also to the reasons that persons with a disability are less likely than those without a disability to report their victimization incidents to the police. Among the possible explanations, persons with disabilities might fear losing their financial security, their housing or their welfare benefits when the perpetrator in question is a person they know. Also, victims might fear they will not be believed or perceived as not credible by the police or the courts, or that there will not be appropriate services available (Petersilia, 2009; OVC, 2009, 2002; Cantos, 2006; Reid, 2004; Health Canada, 2004, 1993, Sorensen, 2002; Rioux et al., 1997).

However, according to General Social Survey (GSS) data, a higher proportion of incidents were reported to police when the victim had activity limitations compared to when the victim did not. Persons with disabilities reported 30% of their victimization incidents to the police compared to 19% of incidents reported by those without a disability. Also, the police were more likely to be notified when the victim was a man. In fact, incidents were brought to the attention of the police, either by the victim or by some other means, in 49% of cases when the victim was a man with an activity limitation. Among women with activity limitations, that proportion was 30%.

The difference in reporting rates between disabled and non-disabled persons might be partially explained by the severity of the victimization incidents experienced by both groups. For example, one of the reasons that can be cited for not reporting relates to the incident being either too minor or not important enough. Disabled persons who did not contact police were much less likely to say it was because the incident was not important enough (3%) compared to non-disabled persons (15%).

One possible reason for the variation between the survey findings and previous research could be related to the fact that the population surveyed in the GSS excludes those living in institutions and children under the age of 15. As Sorensen (2002) noted, disabled persons who are institutionalized are less likely than those in the general population to report an incident to the police.¹ In addition, children often suffer violence without ever reporting it, either because they are unable to do so or because they are afraid to report incidents to authorities (United Nations, 2006b).

When an incident was reported, persons with disabilities were more likely than persons without limitations to say they were very dissatisfied with the police response (39% compared to 21%).

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Note

1. According to the 1995-1996 National Population Health Survey, slightly less than 1% of Canadians resided in an institution. Among persons aged 65 and over with a severe disability, that proportion was 37%. For more details, see Trottier et al. (2000).