TW: Sexual Assault Awareness Month

 

Sexual Assault and Disability 

Trigger Warning: the following is about sexual assault and how it affects people with disabilities. It is important to know that reading about this topic might be upsetting, so please consider your well-being before continuing to read on.

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If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, there are resources available to help, such as the National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or online at the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.  Able SC also provides resources to people with disabilities.

 

What is sexual assault, and who does it affect?  

Sexual assault is unwanted sexual contact forced upon one person by another. Some examples are:  

• Being forced to kiss someone when you don’t want to.  
• Being touched in places that are private to you, like your breasts or private parts.  
• Being made to touch someone else’s private areas, like breasts or private parts when you don’t want to.  
• Being forced to look at material or events that contain sexual activities.  
• Being made to feel like you need to do an intimate act because that is what another person wants.  

Sexual assault can also be called sexual violence. This term is often used to describe rape, which is forcing someone to have sex when they don’t want to. Acts of sexual violence can also include physical abuse that does not include rape. Emotional and mental abuse can also be considered sexual violence when a person is made to feel like they need to be intimate with another person when they do not want to.  

Who experiences sexual assault and sexual violence?   

Unfortunately, anyone can experience sexual assault. Many people know that women and girls experience sexual assault, but men, boys, transgender and nonbinary people can also be sexually assaulted. When a person does experience any kind of sexual abuse, it is important to know that it is never their fault. No one deserves to be sexually abused.  

Although sexual assault and violence can happen to anyone, some groups of people are more likely to experience sexual violence than others. People with disabilities are 3 times as likely to experience unwanted sexual contact than people without disabilities. Here are some recent statistics from the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey:

• People with disabilities experience sexual assault more often than people without disabilities.  
• 2 of every 5 women who report having experienced sexual violence also have a disability.  
• Men with a disability reported a higher rate of experiencing sexual violence that was not rape. This means they may have been forced to touch another person or perform acts that are sexual violence. 1 in every 4 men who reported these experiences had a disability.  
• Disabled men and women report experiencing social or emotional pressure to have sex without physical force. This is called sexual coercion. This also includes unwanted sexual behaviors, like being harassed in public or being forced to view sexual content.  
• Women with a disability are more likely to experience rape and other sexual violence like stalking, physical and mental violence, and control of their sexual health and reproductive practices from an intimate partner.  
• Men with a disability are more likely to be stalked and experience psychological abuse from an intimate partner.  

These statistics only show reported sexual assault and violence cases. Some survivors who are assaulted do not report what happened to them. Sometimes survivors are afraid they won’t be believed. Sometimes the abuser is someone the survivor knows and fears. The fear can make it hard to tell someone what the abuser did. Survivors can be afraid of how telling the truth will change the lives of the abused person or other people.  

Sometimes, sexual assaults are not reported because the survivor faces barriers in making a report. Those barriers to reporting sexual assault can be why someone may be more vulnerable to abuse. For those with disabilities, vulnerabilities and barriers in reporting sexual abuse can be:

• The person who provides us with disability related support may be the person abusing us.  
• Our abuser might have the ability to limit our access to communication devices such as a computer, phone, or disability related communication technologies.  
• Even if our abuser is not controlling our access to communication devices, the devices available for communication may not be accessible to our disabilities. For example, voice only telephone options when a person is deaf, deaf-blind, or has a speech disability.  
• Some of us may not have learned about safe and healthy sexual activity and relationships.  
• Because some of us may need to be touched by others to have our personal needs met (such as getting dressed, bathing, or going to the bathroom), we may not feel we have the right to say no when another person touches us in a way that makes us feel wrong.  
• We might report our sexual assault, but not be believed because of our disability.  

The reasons listed above are only a few of the reasons why someone with a disability may not report being sexually assaulted. It is also important to note that data for sexual assault against people with disabilities who live in institutions (like nursing facilities or prisons) are often not available, and do not accurately reflect the levels of such abuse. Whether the reasons are related to physical barriers –such as using a phone, or the fear of not being believed when a survivor does make a report – these barriers are real and need to be removed.   

One way to reduce such barriers is drawing attention to the fact that sexual assault and sexual violence against people with disabilities does happen. Organizations that support people who have been sexually assaulted, such as the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), the VERA Institute, and authors of the Sexual Assault Response Training guide have begun to provide information about sexual assault and abuse of people with disabilities. The Centers for Disease Control also provides data and education on this as well. The Department of Justice began collecting statistics and including information in their crime victimization surveys. Media outlets such as National Public Radio have also begun looking at the lack of reporting of sexual assault against disabled people.  

Disability community organizations are also working to bring attention to this issue. Consider consulting Center for American Progress, the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), and organizations such as Independent Living Centers for advocacy recommendations.  

Getting Help:  

If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, or you suspect sexual abuse, there is help available!  

• Report it: you can call 911 or your local police department.  
• If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind, you can contact the National Deaf Domestic Violence Hotline (NDDVH) 24/7. Video Phone: 1-855-812-1001. Instant messenger DeafHotline. Email: nationaldeafhotline@adwas.org  
• You can speak to a crisis counselor for support by calling the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) at 1-800-656-4673 or https://www.rainn.org/  
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline also offers local resource listings on their website. You can find these resources at: https://www.thehotline.org/ 
• You can also contact Able SC: 

Call our office at 803-779-5121 between 9am - 5pm Monday-Friday to make an appointment to talk to us. You can also email Dori Tempio at dtempio@able-sc.org. IMPORTANT: Please know that we don’t provide direct crisis services. This means that we do not have a shelter (a place for people to stay for a short time while escaping an abusive situation). We also do not have lawyers, police, therapists, or medical workers on staff. If you are in immediate danger, please call 911.

 

References:

• Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, (2023)., “Sexual Abuse of People with Disabilities.” https://www.rainn.org/articles/sexual-abuse-people-disabilities   
• Thompson, V. Ellmann, N. Cokley, R. Fields Allsbrook, J. (2021, February 12):, “Sexual Violence and the Disability Community.” Center on American Progress https://www.americanprogress.org/article/sexual-violence-disability-community/   
• National Sexual Violence Resource Center (2018). Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) Toolkit, 2018 edition. https://www.nsvrc.org/sarts/toolkit/6-6  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2021, July 19). The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey. Content Source: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Division of Violence Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nisvs/index.html   
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020, June) “Sexual Violence and Intimate Partner Violence Among People with Disabilities.” Violence Prevention. Injury Center. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/sexualviolence/svandipv.html   
• Disability Justice (2023) Sexual Abuse and Disability Justice https://disabilityjustice.org/sexual-abuse/

Able South Carolina

803.779.5121 | advocacy@able-sc.org