Responding to new figures which show that 1 in 7 disabled people
aged 16-59 in England and Wales experienced domestic abuse in the
year to March 2020, and that disabled women were more than twice as
likely to have experienced domestic abuse during the same period,
, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Justice, Women
and Equalities said:
"The rates of domestic abuse against disabled people – especially
disabled women – are shockingly high. Even more concerning is
that these figures are from before the pandemic, and we know that
lockdown has made the situation far worse.
“We must do much more to prevent domestic abuse and support
survivors. The Domestic Abuse Bill – promised by the
Conservatives almost four years ago – cannot come into law soon
enough. Liberal Democrats will continue pushing for improvements
to the law to properly protect all survivors.
“And these figures are a stark reminder that there is still much
further to go to end the discrimination and injustice facing
disabled people. They must not be left behind as we emerge from
this pandemic.”
*Figures from ONS Outcomes for Disabled People in the UK 2020.
*The figures show that 14.33% of disabled people in England &
Wales experienced domestic abuse in the year to March 2020.
*The figures show that women were more likely to have experienced
domestic abuse in the last year than men regardless of disability
status in the year ending March 2020. Disabled women (17.5%) were
more than twice as likely to experience domestic abuse than
non-disabled women (6.7%), a significant difference.
