The recently published report titled '‘Invisible Victims of Sexual Violence: Access to Justice for Women and Girls with Disabilities in India’ has revealed some startling information that women and girls with different disabilities face high risk of sexual violence in the country. As per the report, they find it more difficult to escape the violent situation, because of limited mobility. In most cases, they may not know that non-consensual sexual acts are a crime and should be reported because facilities are not made accessible to them. There are no system to even register the attacks.

The 61-page report which focuses on the physically challenged women of India, investigates 17 rape and gang rape cases of women and girls with various disabilities in eight states across India. It has found out that five years after the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, women and girls with disabilities continue to face significant barriers to justice.

Check the video, where the girls speak out:

Basic facilities to the Disabled Women are not even provided in the country, even though the 2013 amendments and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, (POCSO) mandate these provisions. To much surprise, the police is not even well-equipped to handle these sensitive cases because they lack expert training. It is to everyone's knowledge, that judicial proceedings in the country is extremely slow and it moves at its own pace. To add to it, cases of harassment and crimes against women are also less reported because of the fear of being shamed in the society. This report  highlights, that reporting sexual violence case is more difficult for disabled women because in most cases they and their families are not even aware of their legal rights.

Some of the recommendation mentioned in the report are- there should be implementation of laws and policies to help protect rights in cases of sexual violence against women with disabilities. To add to it, Police, judicial officers, medical officers and judges should “receive adequate training in the rights of survivors of sexual violence. Also women and girls with disabilities and that police and the courts should have access to “special educators,” who can identify disability accurately and provide support or other accommodations.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 04, 2018 09:56 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).