What is sexual abuse? What are the current statistics for sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities?
Sexual abuse can be defined as forcing, threatening, coercing, tricking or manipulating another person into unwanted sexual contact or into sexual contact to which the other person does not have the capacity to give consent. Sexual abuse involves power and control over another individual without his or her consent. It can involve a range of unwelcome sexual actions by others from harassing language to violent rape or sodomy, and other acts. Sexual abuse is a crime of power that uses sex and secrecy as weapons. While statistics vary somewhat, all reports indicate that people with an intellectual disability are significantly more likely to be sexually abused than their same age peers. They are often targeted as victims because of they are perceived as easier marks who will have difficulty recognizing the abuse. They are likely to have more difficulty reporting what has happened to them and are less likely to be believed or may not qualify to testify in court. Most reports of sexual abuse
