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Deaf Children <br />Children who are Deaf or hard of hearing <br />experience higher rates of physical and <br />sexual abuse than their hearing counterparts. <br />One study found that Deaf and hard of <br />hearing children were 1.4 times more likely to <br />be neglected and twice as likely to be <br />physically abused.[21] Studies have also <br />shown that deaf children are 2-3 times more <br />likely to experience sexual abuse than <br />hearing children.[22] In one study, more than <br />50 percent of Deaf people (males and <br />females) reported they were sexually abused <br />as children.[23] <br />Deaf Adults <br />Research on domestic and sexual violence <br />against Deaf people demonstrates higher <br />rates of domestic and sexual victimization — <br />intimate partner violence, psychological <br />aggression and abuse, forced sexual <br />experiences, and sexual assault — than their <br />hearing counterparts. A number of <br />comparative studies have shown that Deaf <br />individuals are anywhere from 1.5 to 5 <br />times more likely to experience these <br />forms of violence than their hearing <br />counterparts.[24] Further, some research <br />indicates that over 70 percent of Deaf men <br />and women have been physically assaulted, <br />and more than 40 percent of Deaf males and <br />50 percent of Deaf females have <br />experienced sexual assault.[25] One study <br />found that Deaf adults were more likely to <br />experience forced sexual experiences than <br />hearing adults --at rates that were at least <br />twice those reported by hearing respondents <br />in other surveys.[26] <br />In 2017, researchers analyzed 14 studies on <br />the prevalence rates of neglect, emotional, <br />physical and sexual abuse, and intimate <br />partner violence in the Deaf/hard of hearing <br />population. Across these 14 studies, they <br />found: <br />• Prevalence rates of physical abuse were <br />higher among Deaf and hard of hearing <br />individuals compared to their hearing <br />counterparts in all studies, with rates of <br />physical abuse varying from 39 to 46.8 <br />percent. <br />• Prevalence rates of sexual abuse were at <br />least the same or significantly higher <br />among Deaf and hard of hearing <br />individuals as compared to their hearing <br />counterparts. Among Deaf and hard of <br />hearing people, rates varied from 34 to <br />59.6 percent in women and 6 to 52.8% in <br />men. <br />• Neglect was the least examined type of <br />abuse overall.[27] <br />11 <br />