#metoo Affects People with Special Needs Too

Problem Awareness

2017 has been described as a “moment” with respect to the exposure of sexual abuse, most typically perpetrated by men against women.  The stories that have been told have mainly been about powerful men (i.e., men with money, fame, or prestige) having used their power to coerce sexual favors or commit acts of violent rape.  While many of the examples with which we in the U.S. have become familiar have involved politicians and people in the entertainment business, a much larger, by proportion (some estimates at 7 times the national average), segment of society has also suffered sexual abuse, but has not received much attention during this period of outing sexual abusers. People with intellectual disabilities have fallen prey to sexual abusers at an alarming rate.

Sexual Assault Rates Among People With Intellectual Disabilities, 2011-2015

The rate of rape and sexual assault against people with intellectual disabilities is more than seven times the rate against people without disabilities. Among women with intellectual disabilities, it is about 12 times the rate.

RATE PER 1,000 PEOPLE

• Persons with intellectual disabilities
• Persons with disabilities
• Persons with no disabilities

RATE PER 1,000 PEOPLE WITH AN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY, BY GENDER

• Women with intellectual disabilities
• Men with intellectual disabilities

Notes

Based on the noninstitutionalized U.S. residential population age 12 or older

https://goo.gl/UFsjGF

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, National Crime Victimization Survey, Special Tabulation

Credit: Katie Park/NPR

Barriers to Addressing the Issue

While it has been heartbreakingly difficult for survivors of sexual harassment and abuse to discuss the painful acts they experienced, as well as the emotional impact that those acts had long after they were over, there have been additional burdens that people with intellectual impairment have had to contend when dealing with their traumas. 

People with intellectual impairments have had challenges describing their experiences because many of them lack the vocabulary to describe the events, they lack the ability to describe events accurately or in a proper sequence, their responses to traumatic events may be atypical as compared to the general population (e.g., self-injury), while at the same time being similar to how the person responds under mildly frustrating situations.  For those individuals that possess a rudimentary vocabulary, if given the chance to testify in court, they can be easily confused by the examinations conducted by lawyers.  Examples of members of the legal system falsely believing that the intellectual functioning of the victim was too low for the victim to experience trauma (https://goo.gl/UfimVo) has also been reported.  

These barriers have made it doubly hard for people with intellectual impairments to get protection from potential perpetrators, or to get justice against their alleged abusers.

https://goo.gl/ScwgaT

Why Does This Happen?

Victims of sexual abuse or harassment often know their abusers.  For women without disabilities, their rapist is known to them 76% of the time.  For women with disabilities, the percentage climbs to 86% of the time (https://goo.gl/XmU73Y).  However, these statistics are likely only descriptive of who common abusers are, pointing out a correlation between familiarity and sexual abuse.  It may be beneficial to look beyond this correlation to other contributing factors. Throughout history there have been different groups of people that have suffered higher rates of abuse as compared to other groups.  Young children, the elderly, prisoners, people with intellectual disabilities, and people with psychiatric conditions have all suffered disproportionate amounts of abuse at the hands of others; and plausibly for a common reason.

Across the groups of people that more often fall victim to mistreatment is the theme of someone with more power being able to exert that power in the absence of counter-control by the victim, by the victim’s surrogates, or from other people with responsibility to care for the victim.

An infant that cries incessantly is defenseless to an attack of being shaken until the crying stops.  An elderly person is likely too weak to fight back against a much younger attacker.  Prisoners lack weapons and other technological aids that their guards or captors posses.  People with intellectual impairments or psychiatric illnesses often lack the ability to organize, or may lack a variety of basic skills that would be needed to deal effectively with the abusive situation.

In everyday situations where we influence one another, negotiation and other non-harmful strategies are employed to find peaceful resolutions to issues.  Cooperation is often a mutually beneficial process.  However, it might not always be an efficient approach to getting what one wants.  Taking from others can be highly efficient.  Societies have developed systems of rules, laws, and ways of functioning that have replaced the more chaotic, less predictable methods of governing through force, but we have not eliminated force or coercion in society. 

What’s Next?

Despite the prevalence of the issue and the most current wave of recognition of sexual abuse, there is a tremendous need to bring increased awareness of the problem relative to a segment of our society that is among the most vulnerable.  Education of people with intellectual disabilities in the area of sexual abuse is greatly needed.  “Stranger danger” programs have become a mainstay in educational programs for all children, but we know that the victimization of people with intellectual disabilities, by strangers, pales in comparison to acts of violence committed by familiar people.  The focus of our educational programming must shift to teaching children with intellectual impairments about proper treatment by those on whom they so greatly rely.  There is also a need to discuss these issues with caregivers and teachers of children with special needs.  Decreasing the opportunities (i.e., isolation) for abuse, and increasing oversight and working within teams may be one approach that aids in the safety of children with special needs.  Developing a skillset in the development of effective teaching procedures is another area that will help familiar adults to respectfully negotiate the challenges that come with working with children with intellectual impairment.

Right now we need to ensure that the underrepresented group of people with intellectual disabilities has their voices heard during this moment of cultural awareness.

https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2017/12/making-students-feel-safe-and-valued
Brian Liu-Constant