Sexual abuse of people with developmental disabilities

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The sexual abuse of people with developmental disabilities is unusually common because these people are especially vulnerable to abuse.

About 20% of females and 10% of males are sexually abused in the US every year. The percentage is even higher among people with disabilities. More than 90% of people with developmental disabilities will experience some form of sexual abuse at some time in their lives. 49% will experience 10 or more abusive incidents.

Other studies suggest 68% of girls with developmental disabilities and 30% of boys with developmental disabilities will be sexually abused before their eighteenth birthday. According to research 15,000 to 19,000 of people with developmental disabilities are raped each year in the United States.

Risk of victimization

People with disabilities are at a greater risk for victimization of sexual assault or sexual abuse. The rate of sexual abuse happening to people with disabilities is shocking, yet most of these cases will go unnoticed.

Abusers may target people with developmental disabilities because they suspect:

• The victim may not understand what is happening
• The victim lacks self-advocacy skills and has been taught to comply with authority figures
• The victim won't know how to talk about what happened
• The victim may lack social support

The victim may not understand that what happened to them was abuse. Some individuals with disabilities may not be able to tell anyone that they were sexually abused. Caregivers may see signs of abuse as "problem behaviors" to control instead of stress symptoms to investigate.

Obeying authority

Typically, people with developmental disabilities are taught not to question caregivers or others in authority. Sadly, it is the authority figures that are often committing the abuse. Research suggests that 97% to 99% of abusers are known and trusted by the victim who has the developmental disability.

Some therapies for people with developmental disabilities train them to comply with therapist demands. Applied behavior analysis for autism has been criticized for possibly increasing vulnerability to sexual abuse by teaching autistic people to do whatever an authority figure says.

Supporting victims

Barriers to care

Usually people with disabilities who have experienced sexual abuse are not provided with a way to “work through” their traumatic experience. Some of these victims severely lack communication skills that prevent them from even talking. Generally, the more severe the disability, the greater the difficulty in accessing services.

The benefit of psychotherapy or “talk therapy” for people with severely limited communication skills is uncertain as well. It's also unclear how sexual abuse impacts people with severe developmental disabilities relative to typically-developing people.

However, all sexual abuse survivors are affected some way. They deserve treatment for sexual abuse. Human service workers must understand that people with developmental disabilities can benefit from counseling even if they are nonspeaking.

See also

• Disability
• Developmental disabilities
• Sexuality and disability
• Sexual abuse
• Sexual assault
• Disability rights movement

References

Abuse

Articles related to Abuse

By means

Abstract concepts Abuse reporting /Antisocial behavior Coercion / Cruelty Abuse of power Persecution / Ritual abuse / Violence Physical abuse Torture / Child abuse Severe corporal punishment Domestic violence Psychological abuse Child neglect Humiliation / Intimidation Mobbing / Bullying Hate speech / Manipulation Stalking / Relational aggression Parental alienation Psychological torture Mind control / Shunning Cinderella Effect /Coercive persuasion Verbal abuse Sexual abuse Incest / Child sexual abuse Rape / Sexual harassment

By victim

Battered females/Battered males Child abuse/Elder abuse Family violence/Prisoner abuse Animal abuse/Partner abuse Patient abuse/Spousal abuse Workplace bullying