In this article, the authors outline key issues related to the risk factors, psychological and physical impact, role of forensic services, and therapy unique to elderly victims of sexual assault. That is, reasons why the literature on sexual violence has overlooked elderly victims are reviewed. Additionally, the authors discuss: early recognition and detection tactics, intervention services addressing signs and symptoms of physical and emotional trauma, specifics concerning forensic examinations on elderly victims, therapy focusing on individual counseling (concerning rape trauma symptoms and rape trauma syndrome), group counseling and music therapy, living situations (independent/assisted living or nursing home), interventions for relatives of abused elderly, prevention suggestions, crisis intervention, and recommendations for nursing home staff – e.g., the need to establish behavioral baselines upon admission of new residents in order to identify victimization responses should abuse occur within the nursing home.
These summaries were written by SVPEP staff and are based on original papers published within the last 6 years. The information available on this web site is provided as a public service and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, the Arizona Department of Health Services, or the University of Arizona. To conduct an individual search or locate older articles use the Search Summary Database which includes over 600 articles related to sexual violence.
Disabled
Burgess, A. W., & Morgenbesser, L. I. (2005). Sexual violence and seniors. Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention, 5, 193-202.
Collier, B., Ghie-Richmond, D., Odette, F., & Pyne, J. (2006). Reducing the risk of sexual abuse for people who use augmentative and alternative communication. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 22, 62-75.
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is used by people who have difficulty speaking, and includes signing systems as well as communication devices and tablets. This article describes “Speak Up – Safeguarding People who use Augmentative Communication from Sexual Abuse/Victimization,” a 3-year program to identify and address issues related to intimate relationships, sexuality, and abuse. Most of the 26 participants (14 males, 12 females) requested information on healthy sexuality and disability as well as dealing with sexual abuse. Most reported that they had not received this information from parents, schools, or helping professionals. Other types of abuse were also discussed. Initially, some participants did not recognize abusive experiences in their lives because the behavior was so common that it was not considered unusual. Over the study period, half of participants requested counseling services to address issues of past or on-going abuse. Barriers to education and services were considerable for this population, as most legal and health system professionals have limited understanding of AAC, and many AAC systems did not include vocabulary that would allow people to discuss sex or abuse. To meet the identified needs of the participants, the researchers prepared educational materials for their use (available online) and developed resources and recommendations for families and service providers (available online and appended to the article).
This was not a representative study; participants were both self-selected and selected by researchers for their ability to communicate in group settings. The researchers deliberately chose not to ask participants about their experiences of sexual abuse. For these reasons, the information shared by participants should be considered anecdotal.
Groce, N. E., & Trasi, R. (2004). Rape of individuals with disability: AIDS and the folk belief of virgin cleansing. The Lancet, 363, 1663-1664.
This paper outlines the central issues surrounding the rape of disabled individuals as perpetrated by individuals infected with HIV. One study cited documented the virgin rape of disabled persons in 14 out of 21 countries assessed. Disabled people are particularly at risk of victimization given the specifics of their respective disability (i.e., blind, deaf, physically impaired, or intellectually disabled) as well as the challenges and barriers they face within the legal environment. For example, in the event that they do try to disclose their victimization, officials often reject their reports, assuming them to be confused. In some regions, individuals with disability are not even permitted to file a police report or to appear in court. All of these factors – in addition to the presence of a disability alone – enhances their level of risk and vulnerability to being victimized within this folk belief system.
Hassouneh-Phillips, D., & Curry, M. A. (2002). Abuse of women with disabilities: State of the science. Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, 45, 96-104.
This review article evaluated quantitative and qualitative research on all kinds of abuse of women with disabilities. Despite the preliminary nature of most of the studies and some methodological issues, there is evidence that abuse rates are higher among people with disabilities, and some barriers to services are unique to this group (e.g., lack of physical access to victim service sites). Across studies, friends, family members, caregiving staff, and other service users (in institutional settings) were the most common perpetrators; the majority of victims were female and the majority of offenders were male. The authors provide information on abuse screening tools for use with disabled populations. Several prevention programs developed for people with developmental disabilities are also described. The authors recommend including routine screening for abuse in all medical and rehabilitation settings. More research is needed to determine if groups with different disabilities have different risk factors.
This is a review article, and it is not clear that the literature review was complete.
Martin, S., Ray, N. Sotres-Alvarez, D., Kupper, L., Moracco, K., Dickens, P., et al. (2006). Physical and sexual assault of women with disabilities. Violence Against Women, 12, 823-837.
This study looked at data from phone surveys completed by 5,326 women in North Carolina. Prevalence of physical, emotional, or mental disabilities was estimated at 26%. Sexual assault (forced sexual activity) was experienced by 1.5% of disabled women and 0.6% of women without disabilities in the past year. Women who self-identified as disabled and those with cognitive impairments were significantly more likely to have experienced sexual assault (2.1% and 1.7% respectively). Other factors associated with having experienced sexual violence were being under 40 years old and being non-white. Physical assault was experienced during the previous year by 2.0% of disabled women and 2.3% of non-disabled women. Results suggest that sexual violence and domestic violence services should ensure that their services are accessible to and appropriate for women with physical, emotional, and mental disabilities.
Women in institutional settings (care homes, prison, etc.) were not included in this study. Because only households with telephones were surveyed, these results cannot be generalized to women who live without telephones.
Smith, D. L. (2009). Disability, gender, and intimate partner violence: Relationships from the behavioral risk factor surveillance system. Sexuality and Disability, 26, 15-28.
Data from the 2005 Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) was used to examine intimate partner sexual and physical abuse experienced by women with disabilities. Results indicated that women with disabilities were about 2 times as likely to be threatened, experience attempted violence, physically abused, and experience unwanted sex. Gender and disability were the most significant factors that increased the likelihood of all forms of violence. Implications for practice included that professionals need to screen and develop interventions to address violence among women with disabilities.
The BRFSS defined disability as “impairment” which may not take into account the full range of disability types.