The occurrence of sexual assault is common and problematic, especially among those with disabilities. While many other characteristics of the victim, perpetrator, and situation involving a sexual assault have been shown to affect perceptions, only one study has examined the impact of a hypothetical victim with a physical disability. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the effect that a victim and/or perpetrator’s physical disability status has on individuals’ classification of encounters as sexual assault.

University students over the age of 18 (n = 207) completed an anonymous online survey which included reading an ambiguous scenario involving a sexual assault in which either the victim, perpetrator or neither was in a wheelchair. Participants classified the scenario as either representing a sexual assault or not and completed the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance scale and demographic information. A binary logistic regression model was conducted to examine the effects of conditions, participant gender and RMA score on sexual assault classification.

In the scenario with the victim in a wheelchair, 71.6% of participants agreed sexual assault occurred; when the perpetrator was in a wheelchair 58.6% classified the scenario as sexual assault. In the control condition 61.4% agreed sexual assault occurred. Condition was not associated with classification at a statistically significant level; however, the effect sizes indicate participants were more likely to classify sexual assault when the victim was in a wheelchair (OR = 1.41), but less likely to blame a perpetrator in a wheelchair (OR = 0.69) compared to the control condition.

Despite a lack of statistical significance, the data show a clear trend away from blaming individuals with disabilities in sexual assault scenarios. These findings can have implications within the legal system where incorrect decisions may be made due to bias based on disability status.

性侵犯的发生很常见，也很成问题，尤其是在残疾人中。虽然受害者、施暴者和涉及性侵犯的情况的许多其他特征已被证明会影响感知，但只有一项研究检查了假设的身体残疾受害者的影响。因此，本研究的目的是探讨受害者和/或施暴者的身体残疾状况对个人将遭遇归类为性侵犯的影响。

18 岁以上的大学生 ( n  = 207) 完成了一项匿名在线调查，其中包括阅读一个涉及性侵犯的模棱两可的场景，其中受害者、施暴者或两者都没有坐在轮椅上。参与者将场景分类为是否代表性侵犯，并完成了伊利诺伊州强奸神话接受量表和人口统计信息。进行二元逻辑回归模型以检查条件、参与者性别和 RMA 分数对性侵犯分类的影响。

在受害者坐在轮椅上的场景中，71.6% 的参与者同意发生了性侵犯；当施暴者坐在轮椅上时，58.6% 的人将这种情况归类为性侵犯。在控制条件下，61.4% 的人同意发生性侵犯。条件与统计显着水平的分类无关；然而，效应量表明，与对照组相比，当受害者坐在轮椅上时，参与者更有可能对性侵犯进行分类（OR = 1.41），但不太可能指责坐在轮椅上的肇事者（OR = 0.69）。

尽管缺乏统计意义，但数据显示出一种明显的趋势，即在性侵犯场景中不再指责残疾人。这些发现可能会对法律系统产生影响，因为基于残疾状况的偏见可能会做出不正确的决定。