People with disabilities: The forgotten victims of violence

摘要

Three decades have passed since the UN declared 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons.1 The theme of the commemoration was "full participation and equality". Progress towards this goal has been sadly deficient as evidence suggests that individuals with disabilities experience exceptionally high levels of violence.In The Lancet, Karen Hughes and colleagues2 present the results of a timely comprehensive review and meta-analysis of research on violence against adults with disabilities. Funded by WHO, this ambitious project is the first of its type to provide a quantitative synthesis of research on violence against disabled adults, including individuals with disabilities associated with mental health disorders and intellectual impairments. With strict selection criteria, 26 studies were eligible for review, of which 21 provided data suitable for meta-analysis.