Violence and disablist hate crime against people with intellectual disabilities: Czech NGOs and service providers’ experiences

Abstract

This study explores the relationship between intellectual disabilities and violent victimization, its reporting, and perceived priority in victim needs in criminal proceedings using data from a survey conducted among Czech organizations working with disabled people. The main aim is to find out whether there are differences between the organizations based on the type of disabilities they focus on. Pearson’s chi-squared, Fisher’s exact test and z-test were applied to determine the statistical differences. The results reveal that the organizations mainly focusing on people with intellectual disabilities reported more experiences with violent victimization, less experiences with reporting the most recent incident of disablist hate crime to police and emphasized more often the need for accompaniment and support during the filing of a crime report and taking other steps in criminal proceedings. The findings imply the need for more research and better targeted assistance for people with intellectual disabilities.