Disability’s Dark Figure of Violence: Reporting Variations Across Intersections of Disability Type, Race, Ethnicity, and Sex

Abstract

Using data from the 2017 to 2020 National Crime Victimization Survey, the current study examines how race, ethnicity, and sex affect the likelihood of reporting violent victimization to the police across types of disability (hearing, vision, cognitive, and physical). Findings reveal that Black individuals with cognitive disabilities and Hispanic individuals with multiple disabilities were less likely to report their violent victimization to the police compared to White individuals with no disabilities. Results not only support prior literature’s conclusion that disability type shapes reporting outcomes but indicate potentially cumulative effects for those at the intersections. Its implications highlight the critical need for criminal justice practitioners, victim advocates, and researchers to integrate disability and its heterogeneity into practice.