Women with physical or mental disabilities are reported to be more frequent victims of sexual violence. 9% of all women reported having been raped. However, the figure rises to 16% within the population of women with disabilities, says a study conducted by Ifop for the Association for the Social and Professional Integration of People with Disabilities (LADAPT) in November 2022.


33% of women surveyed with mental disabilities said they had been raped. In 2020, a report by the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES) showed that 1.9% of people with disabilities had been victims of sexual violence in the previous two years, compared to 0.8% of people without disabilities. The effects of such violence on the health and self-confidence of victims can aggravate disability and the risk of exclusion.


More affected, less well screened and less raw


Associations point to official figures that they consider unreliable, as sexual violence against people with disabilities is poorly detected. In addition to being more frequently concerned, women with disabilities who are victims would be less easily believed, denounce organizations. To facilitate the filing of complaints, the latter request that law enforcement officers be made aware.



They are joined by Geneviève Darrieussecq, Minister for Persons with Disabilities, who called for "training of police officers and gendarmes, in the National Education and in the medico-social sector to detect weak signals, collect testimonies, especially from non-verbal people".


  • Society
  • Handicap
  • Disabled
  • Sexual violence