Abstract
About one fifth of U.S. citizens have some type of disability, with the
percentage somewhat higher for women and girls (21.3%) than among
men and boys (19.8%) (Banks, 2003). Research suggests an incidence of
sexual and physical violence among women with disabilities that is
higher than in the general population (Sobsey & Doe, 1991; Nosek &
Howland, 1997). Furthermore, women with disabilities are at high risk
for a longer durat ion of abuse than their able-bodied counterparts
(Nosek, Howland, & Young, 1997). Based upon this information, how
disability has been defined and the ways in which trauma in the lives of
women with disabilities is characterized becomes of great interest.