April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Cover image of someone holding up hands to stop. black and white photograph with bright red stop sign "Stop Sexual Assault"

People with Intellectual Disabilities/Autism (ID/A) are at a substantial risk of sexual assault. We know that. But did you know? Many people have not received education related to their body. Others do not know what sexual assault is in general. Statistically people with ID/A are sexually assaulted at seven times the rate of those without disabilities.

All people are sexual beings. Please read that again. All people are sexual beings. It does not matter if you are male, female, or any other non-binary. It does not matter if you have an intellectual disability or autism. We all go through stages of identifying sexually. Many people within our system do not receive sexual education. In many instances family and caretakers do not feel it is necessary. But when looking at statistics, we can see that the population receiving our services is one of the highest risks of sexual assault. That is why I implore you to begin teaching people and teaching them early.

Photo of a woman holding a sign that says 'It's time to talk about it" the symbols for male/female are in the corner of the neutral background.

There is a difference between sexual assault and consent-given sexual intercourse. However, if a person is never educated on the difference, their body parts, and the choice to say “no” or “stop”, we are putting people at higher risk. Yes, there are some people who may never choose to engage in sexual intercourse, but that does not mean we should not teach them how to keep themselves safe and to report if something would occur.

As I mentioned earlier, sexual education should start at an early age. For example, teach a child to close the bathroom door when bathing or utilizing the toilet. We teach people about public and private behavior. Educate people to change in their bedroom with the door shut.

We know that most people with intellectual disabilities/autism (ID/A) will be victimized by someone they know and during daylight hours. So instead of stranger danger, we really need to be talking about strange behavior. If a person needs assistance in hygiene care, we want to support that person to be as independent as possible. If we are able to teach them how to clean their breasts, vagina, buttocks, and penis then we need to do so. The less a person must rely on another person for intimate care, the lower their risk becomes.

However, if a person must have assistance with intimate care, all the people who are providing that care should do so in the exact same way. That way if there is a deviation from the norm, the person may be able to identify it.

We also need to report sexual assault for what it is. Sexual assault is sexual assault no matter who the person is or what disorder is identified in that person. Too often, we, as a system, dismiss the violence that occurs to the people in our care. This violence often scars people for the rest of their lives; this is not acceptable.

We can teach people from an early age, but we also need to educate law enforcement, as well as our county prosecutors. As a system we also need to consider how do we identify those who may not have received legal sanctions for assaulting someone receiving support so that they do not just move on to the next agency.

Let’s stop people from becoming another statistic and help them to thrive. Every person needs to feel safe in their own skin. Help us raise awareness and stop sexual assault.