The unnoticed epidemic of violence and abuse against disabled people

Thursday, 30 September 2021

Lena Zhang Harrap was known for her independence and loved walking in her neighbourhood.

OPINION: The violent death of Lena Zhang Harrap while she was walking in a reserve near her Auckland home is deeply distressing.

I did not know Lena. From what I have read about her, she was a vibrant, young woman leading a full, independent life. She had the support of a loving family and was known in her local community for her outgoing, bubbly personality. My sincere condolences to Lena’s family, friends and community for their heart-breaking loss.

Lena was part of a kapa haka group and a finalist in the IHC Art Awards. She was living her best life. She was doing everything right – and everything she had a right to do.

Lena had Down syndrome and was vision impaired.

* Mt Albert homicide: Lena Zhang Harrap should have been safe going for a walk

* Disabled people report higher rates of sexual, physical violence, new research shows

Disability Commissioner Paula Tesoriero says that disabled people have told her they are an easy target for random assaults.

In the days since Lena’s death the disabled community – of which I am a member – has been talking about personal safety. It saddened me to receive a message, in the last few days, from one visually impaired man who was told, 20 years ago, that he should expect to be picked on – and even assaulted – when he was out. If he chose to have a seeing eye dog it could be assaulted too.

When he asked why, he was told it was because he was an easy target. To avoid being a target he chose to disguise – as much as possible – that he was disabled. It seems to me that in 20 years little has changed.

Flowers were left in tribute to Lena Zhang Harrap, whose violent death is a high-profile example of threats facing many disabled New Zealanders.

Violence is, at its core, an abuse of power. Those most likely to be harmed are women, children, tangata whenua, LGBTQI+, and disabled men and women. When these intersect the risk is even greater.

In Aotearoa, as well as globally, it is difficult to establish the prevalence of violence towards disabled people because of the lack of systemic data collection.

Global studies suggest that disabled adults are 1.5 times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled – and disabled women and girls are more likely to experience violence than disabled men and boys. Disabled children are almost four times more likely to experience violence than their non-disabled peers.

In June new data published by the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey showed that disabled people are more likely to experience crime across all types of offences including interpersonal violence and sexual assault. Up to 16 percent of disabled New Zealanders experience interpersonal violence compared to 7 percent of non-disabled.

The survey also showed that disabled adults are significantly more likely than non-disabled adults to be sexually assaulted in their lifetime at 28 per cent compared with 23 per cent.

Māori and Pacific peoples are likely to feel a greater impact as a higher proportion of these populations are disabled. In the latest disability survey by Stats NZ, 24 per cent of all New Zealanders identified as disabled but this increases to 32 per cent for Māori and 26 per cent for Pacific peoples.

Violence against tāngata whaikaha Māori also needs to be considered in the context of colonisation and its ongoing effects. This includes institutional racism and structural barriers that have systematically disenfranchised Māori at all levels.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reiterates that disabled people have the same civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as all other people in the world. This also includes being free from violence and abuse. For many years, however, it seems disabled people’s experience of violence has been marginalised and ignored. Essentially this is discrimination which requires an immediate response.

Here at the Human Rights Commission we’ve been collating evidence of the violence and abuse experienced by disabled people as well as recommendations on how to address the situation. We expect to report by the end of the year.

Our response must be to accelerate violence prevention measures that help to protect disabled people, but which do no curtail the hard fought – and essential – freedoms necessary for a life of dignity.

Could we have prevented what happened to Lena? I can’t know for sure. But I do know that there is an unnoticed epidemic of violence and abuse against disabled people that needs to be addressed.

Paula Tesoriero is the Disability Rights Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission.