How do people with mental disabilities become victims of sexual abuse
This week gave several reasons to talk about cruelty. in relation to people with disabilities. On May 29, in North Ossetia, the North Ossetia-Alania UK SC closed the case of prolonged sexual abuse of an 18-year-old girl with autism: a year ago, a resident of Vladikavkaz, Zalina Dudayeva, said that her daughter was repeatedly raped by several men who came to her house while her mother and two sons were treated in Moscow. Nevertheless, the investigation concluded that the girl entered into an intimate relationship voluntarily, and the men did not know about her features. That is, the state of the victim was actually used against her, explains the girl’s lawyer Olga Karacheva: the investigator noted that her testimony could not be reliable because of her “mental state”. Because of the public response, which caused the decision of the UK, on May 31 the case was resumed.
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This is far from the only case when people with disabilities become victims of cruelty and violence - not only sexual, but also physical and psychological. Yesterday in Moscow, the police detained a twenty-two-year-old man with autism for "loud
screams on the street. ”According to the detainee’s mother, her son was taken to the police station, handcuffed and held for about three hours before the arrival of emergency psychiatric care - after which they were taken to a psychiatric hospital, from where they were discharged the next day. The man told the mother that he was in police he was stifled several times, his mouth and head were tied to him with a T-shirt.
Sad statistics say that people with disabilities and mental health, like people with disabilities, are more vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse. According to a study conducted by experts at University College London, 40% of women with mental health issues in their adulthood were victims of rape or experienced an attempt at sexual violence — 53% of them tried to commit suicide because of traumatic experiences. 12% of men surveyed faced the same problem. The same study showed that people with mental health problems also often encounter domestic violence: in adulthood, 69% of women and 49% of men were victims. The survey involved 303 randomly selected people who were observed in a psychiatric clinic for a year or more; 60% of them have schizophrenia.
The problem of violence concerns not only adults. According to WHO, the probability of encountering violence in children with disabilities is almost four times higher than in children without it, becoming 3.7 times more victims of any form of violence in children with disabilities, and 3.6 times more victims of physical violence. times, victims of sexual violence - 2.9 times. Children with disabilities and mental health are even more vulnerable: they have a 4.6-times higher risk of being sexually abused than other children.
Human rights activist Champa Sengupta said that the villagers decided that an "inferior" girl is trying to ruin the life of "full-fledged" men
The American organization RAINN, which fights against sexual violence, believes that people with mental disabilities often face violence from carers, guardians and those who need to take care of them - they can use their power and defenselessness to intimidate them and coerce them for sex. This is especially true for older people who experience cognitive difficulties caused by dementia or neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease. In an investigation into violence and abuse in nursing homes in the United States, CNN talks about one such case: 83-year-old Sonya Fischer, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, was punished by an orderly at night - one of the nurses who worked with him saw that about all the leadership. The attendant was immediately removed from work; it later turned out that this was not the only case of violence in the institution. Several times before, the victim of violence was a woman with visual and hearing disabilities, who could not identify whose victim she had become - the management had for some time already suspected the orderly along with other workers of his shift.
People with mental disabilities may find it harder to tell about the violence that has happened to them - for example, a rapist may rob a victim of access to a telephone, computer, or other means of communication, or it may be difficult to use them independently. As in the case of Zalina Dudayeva’s daughter, confessions of victims of violence with mental features can simply devalue - or assume that they cannot adequately assess their own condition. For example, in 2014, a twenty-year-old Indian woman with cerebral palsy said that several men raped her until she lost consciousness. Human rights activist Champa Sengupta said that the villagers decided that an "inferior" girl was trying to ruin the life of "full-fledged" men.
Even less talk about the sexuality of people with mental features: while some prefer to think that it does not exist at all, others surround it with fears and stereotypes, for example, that all people with developmental characteristics are aggressive. RAINN notes that people with disabilities or disabilities may not be aware of sexual safety and that there are boundaries in their relationships with other people. These boundaries may be blurred - for example, if a person needs help in servicing himself and he is used to it, that others often see him naked or touch him.
People with mental disabilities may find it harder to talk about the violence that has happened to them.
Finally, it is difficult to determine where the boundary of consent to sex lies. People with disabilities or mental health may not know that they have the right to say “no”, or not be able to clearly express their disagreement - which can be used by abusers and rapists. The question of where the limit of freedom of a person with developmental or mental health features lies and whether he can give fully informed consent to sex is complex and depends on each individual case: a ban can not only protect a person, but also limit his right to sexuality.
In some countries, laws approach this problem from a different angle — for example, in the UK there is a classification of crimes against people with mental health problems. They are divided into three groups: first, rape, when the victim is unable to give up; secondly, rape, when the victim can give informed consent, but her condition makes her more vulnerable to persuasion and coercion; and, thirdly, rape by carers and other people caring for a person. Such a position does not mean that people with disabilities are not able to give informed consent to sex - but implies that their words and needs are listened to and protected when they are especially vulnerable.
In some cases, due to the nature of the condition of the victim, it may be more difficult to understand that what happened to her was rape and that she was not to blame for what happened. Holly Smith, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, says in a column that during episodes of hypomania she cannot control her own sexuality - and her desire is constantly changing. Researches point out that many people with bipolar disorder have hypomania during hypomania, a condition in which a person may want sex more than usual, act more impulsively and not like they would in a normal situation, sometimes acting to their detriment. Naturally, others may try to take advantage of it.
This does not mean that people with disabilities are not able to give informed consent to sex - but implies that their words and needs are heeded.
According to Holly, it was because of these symptoms that she believed for a very long time that she was guilty of her own rape: “I was ashamed of the chemical processes that take place in my brain. I continued to move along a dangerous path and didn’t turn to specialists - until after a nervous breakdown didn't come for help about my bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. "
In the fight against violence against people with psychological and health issues, there are more questions than answers. But the first step is clear now: it is worth stopping to dismiss what is happening, to show a little more empathy and, most importantly, not to close the cases of violence.
Photo: Alexander Potapov - stock.adobe.com
