Canadians with a disability almost twice as likely to be victims of violent crime

Canadians with a disability are almost twice as likely to be victims of a violent crime, according to Statistics Canada.

The 2014 data from the General Social Survey on Canadians' Safety released Thursday shows that nearly four in 10 incidents of self-reported violent crime — including sexual assault, robbery, or physical assault — involve a victim with a disability. 

People with disabilities make up 13.7 per cent of people aged 15 years and older in Canada.

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Females with a disability make up 45 per cent of all violent incidents involving females, whereas males with disabilities make up one-third of violent incidents involving males. 

According to the 2012 Canadian Survey on Disability, roughly 3.8 million Canadians reported being limited in their daily activities as a result of a disability, with impairments related to pain, flexibility and mobility being the most common. 

The data also shows that, regardless of the type of disability, rates of victimization are higher among women. However, both men and women with cognitive disabilities — or mental-health related disabilities — are victimized nearly four times more than people who do not have a disability.

Canadians with a disability are also more likely to be victimized in their own home and physical or sexual violence at the hands of a spouse or common-law partner is more common among people with a disability compared to those without a disability.