Sexual violence against our kids: Why isn't it on everyone's radar?

By Louise Kinross

Yesterday I was outraged to read this story about the case of a 9-year-old California girl with an intellectual disability who was sexually assaulted five times in 2010 by a non-disabled student during an after-school program. The assaults began with her being kicked and hit. Her parents sued the Los Angeles Unified School District for damages to cover the long-term therapy they say their daughter needs to treat her emotional trauma.

Sounds bad huh?

It gets worse. The school district hired a psychologist to say that this girl was less likely to suffer emotional trauma because of her low intelligence.

Dr. Stan Katz said that her mental disability would "protect" her from the degree of emotional stress and depression that a regular student would experience from sexual assault. Further, Katz interviewed the girl in 2012, two years after the assaults, and determined that any emotional problems she had at the time resulted from not having a father in her life and her mental disability, not from the molestations.

According to the story, two experts reviewing Katz's testimony said there's no science to support his assertion that low intelligence minimizes a child's emotional trauma.

"I have never seen developmental disability in a child that age used as a protective factor with respect to how they handle trauma," said University of California San Francisco psychiatrist Dr. Lynn Ponton. "In fact," she added, "developmental disability quite often puts them at risk for this type of trauma."

What was the LA school board, charged with educating and promoting the wellbeing of its students, thinking in hiring Katz and his discriminatory and unfounded arguments?

According to a 2012 review by the United Nations World Health Organization, children with intellectual disabilities (and mental illness) are 4.6 times more likely to be sexually abused than their non-disabled peers.

Instead of raising awareness of this heightened vulnerability, and taking steps to protect students, the LA board, through its psychologist, appears to be rationalizing the high rate of abuse of this population: 'They don't feel pain the way other kids do' is the message being sent.

Remember that archaic medical belief that infants and children don't experience pain the way adults do? The idea is being trotted out again here, but in relation to students with intellectual disability.

According to the girl's attorney, the jury was "offended" and "disgusted" with Katz's line of reasoning. They awarded the girl $1.4 million in damages. The LA board attorney had argued that she needed $10,000 to $12,500 for therapy.

In related news this week, this Daily Beast piece suggests that although women with disabilities are at greatest risk of sexual violence, they are not welcomed by feminists working against violence.

"When Stephanie Woodward blogged about #YesAllWomen, she was excited to join the movement and share her own life experiences as a woman with a disability," writes Elizabeth Heideman. "She never expected her post to spawn hostile messages from activists scolding Woodward for trying to 'detract from the real issue' and instead make it about disability."

"Do women with disabilities not count as women?" Woodward is later quoted asking.

And finally, this is an investigative piece into sexual assaults by staff against clients of one of Australia's biggest disability service providers. Disabled clients and former staff "tell how complaints were ignored and whistleblowers targeted, their warnings not acted upon. As a result, two men employed by the organization, and now allegedly a third, went on to rape and sexually abuse disabled clients."

It hurts to connect the dots, doesn't it?

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In harm's way

Children with disabilities are nearly four times more likely to endure abuse than their non-disabled counterparts, concludes a study commissioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The study’s results were published on Friday in the Lancet.

According to the report, children with disabilities are 2.9 times more likely to experience sexual violence and 3.6 times more likely to endure physical violence than non-disabled children.

Kids with mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities are among the most vulnerable, facing a risk of sexual violence 4.6 times greater than their non-disabled peers. Difficulties with communication often increase the likelihood that children will not be listened to, understood or believed in the event that they report maltreatment.

The study also found that kids living in institutions face a higher risk of abuse than those who live in family homes.

The report is based on data from 17 different existing studies from high income countries like the United States, Sweden, Finland and Israel, among others. Overall, it reflects data from over 18,000 children. Of the children with disabilities studied, 27 per cent overall had experienced some type of violence, including physical or sexual abuse, and emotional neglect.

Researchers say the increased risk of violence results from the stigma, discrimination and lack of knowledge that surround disability. They also point to the dearth of social support for caregivers as a factor.

Those working on the study hope that by exposing and highlighting risk, the research will lead to better care practices and the implementation of more serious abuse prevention strategies for children with disabilities.

They also mention the need for research into abuse rates in mid-to-low-income countries, where rates of disability and chronic illness tend to be higher, and support services are few and far between. Currently, little to no data exists for these areas.


Story by: Megan Jones

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Protecting your non-verbal child

Parents of children who don’t speak fear their child’s vulnerability. When your child is non-verbal, he can’t tell you if something bad happens at school, in the community or with a worker. Last week I received an e-mail from the mother of a four-year-old boy with autism. She wrote to tell me that while receiving ABA therapy at a private centre, inappropriate photos of her son were taken. She shares her story in the hope that by alerting others parents to the potential for abuse, she can save another family from going through a similar experience.

My son had been going there for a year and every session I would stay and wait for him. I could hear him scream through the walls and they would tell me he needs to ‘pair’ with his therapist and it’s his ‘behaviours.’ In October there were changes and we had a new therapist. Her first day with my son she came running out of the therapy session into the waiting room and asked if I had a camera. I said no and why? She asked the administrator, who said yes, take my iPhone. The therapist said: “Your son is painting, he is covered in blue paint so I want to show you” and ran out of the room. Over the next little while she returned the iPhone to its owner and I asked to see these pictures. I was in shock to see my son standing in his diaper covered in blue paint, crying. There were many pictures taken. But none of him actually painting, just of him crying with blue paint all over him. There were pictures of him being cleaned up and pictures of him naked: three full frontal photos. I felt sick to my stomach.

Does my child not have a right to privacy? When you send your child to school do you expect them to be painting in their underwear or diaper? Why would someone take pictures of a child naked? My son could have been cold for two hours, standing in his diaper. When your child is non-verbal, he can’t tell you what’s happening. The guilt I feel that I trusted this private centre with my child is unexplainable. Our local children’s aid is investigating this case and the police said that while the photos are not pornographic, they are inappropriate. No apology or explanation has been given to us by the director of the centre. I would like to educate as many parents as possible to prevent this kind of horrible occurrence from happening to another child.

Following are precautions I've learned to take in choosing a private therapy centre or daycare:

Call your local children’s aid to ask if any incidents at the facility have been reported, or if the facility has been the focus of an investigation.

Ask to see qualifications of the person working with your child.

Check references yourself. Don’t be afraid to make enquiries with the police regarding records.

Expect timely responses to your concerns and questions.

Before committing yourself to a facility, ask to speak with other parents and view the facility while in operation.

Make an unannounced visit to get a realistic view of how the place runs and the involvement of the senior staff or directors.

Be involved. Don’t take a kind smile as proof that your child is well taken care of.

If you can view your child under someone else’s care, do it.

Look for sudden changes in behaviour in your child. You know your child best.

Read contracts carefully and don’t be afraid to question.

Share information and network with other parents.

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