New numbers from Statistics Canada show that people with disabilities are more likely to experience violence and sexual assault.
The report released Thursday based on a 2014 survey, indicates that nearly 4 in 10 incidents of self reported violent crimes such as sexual or physical assault involved a person with a disability.
President of Inclusion Lloydminster Robin Acton says that there’s a reason why Lloydminster has an advocacy organization for people with disabilities and that’s because they experience disadvantages.
“I think people with developmental disabilities, in particular are some of the most marginalized of the marginalized. Things like access to a good quality education often requires advocacy.”
She adds that many of the things able bodied people take for granted like having a job requires a lot more support for people with a disability.
Stats Canada says that people with mental health related disabilities are victimized nearly four times more than their counterpart without a disability. Acton says that people with disabilities are like the rest of us and sometimes there is mental health challenges involved.
“The incidents and mental health issues can actually be greater. The challenge is to have that recognized, that it isn’t their disability anymore than it is anybody else’s ability that could be contributing to mental health issues.”
According to Stats Canada, roughly 3.8 million Canadians reported being limited in their day-to-day lives due to things such as pain, learning, developmental or psychological.