People with disabilities experienced violent crime at twice the rate of those without disabilities in 2008, according to newly released data.

The findings come in a report released Thursday by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics that looked at 730,000 nonfatal violent crimes during 2008 in which the victim had a disability. Overall, those with disabilities age 12 and older experienced crime at a rate of 40 cases out of 1,000. During the same period those without a disability were affected at a far lower rate of 21 per 1,000, the findings indicate.

Among those with varying types of disabilities, individuals with cognitive impairments were most vulnerable, the report found. Women with disabilities were also more likely to be victims of violent crime than their male counterparts.

Despite the relatively high number of people with disabilities affected by crime, the government report indicates that only about 15 percent of victims believed they were targeted because of their disability.

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