Criminal justice responses to learning disabled and autistic victims of sexual violence in the UK

Jobe, Alison; Williams, Helen

Abstract

This chapter focuses on criminal justice responses to learning disabled and autistic victims of sexual violence. Learning disabled and autistic victim-survivors are frequently absent from both feminist and disability discourse on sexual violence. The available research suggests that people with a learning disability or who are autistic, especially women, are more likely to experience sexual violence, less likely to report it, and when they do report are less likely to see a charge or conviction. There remains an urgent need to understand why these inequities exist and to develop best practice to improve criminal justice and support service responses.

Citation

Jobe, A., & Williams, H. (2025). Criminal justice responses to learning disabled and autistic victims of sexual violence in the UK. In S. J. Macdonald, & D. Peacock (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Disability, Crime, and Justice. (1). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003348733

• Online Publication Date: May 22, 2025
• Publication Date: May 22, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jun 3, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 23, 2026
• Publisher: Routledge
• Edition: 1
• Book Title: The Routledge Handbook of Disability, Crime, and Justice
• Chapter Number: 18
• ISBN: 9781003348733
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003348733
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/4088349
• Publisher URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003348733-22/criminal-justice-responses-learning-disabled-autistic-victims-sexual-violence-uk-helen-williams-alison-jobe