itsnotokCT-Facts and Stats about Sexual Assault

“It all starts with you! In helping the Department of Developmental Services in our endeavor of empowering people with ID/DD to prevent, intervene, and bring awareness of sexual abuse. We are asking for your help to spread the word that April is sexual abuse prevention and awareness month.” These facts and statistics will help to illustrate the importance of spreading the word through use of the hashtag #itsnotokCT. This is information was sourced from NPR News January 8-18, 2018, webinar facilitated by Ken Olson sponsored by Seneca Institute and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics (October 2011)

People with intellectual disabilities are at heightened risk at all moments of their daily lives to experience sexual abuse or assault.
Predators target people with intellectual disabilities because they know they are easily manipulated and will have difficulty testifying later. These crimes go mostly unrecognized, unprosecuted and unpunished. And the abuser is free to abuse again.
People with intellectual disabilities are seven times more likely to experience sexual assault and women with intellectual disabilities are twelve times more likely to experience sexual assault.
Women with disabilities are far more likely to have a history of undesired sex with an intimate partner
Just 3% of sexual abuses involving people with ID/DD are ever reported – From NPR News January 8th through January 18th, 2018
50% of girls who are deaf/hearing impaired have been sexually abused in comparison to 25% of girls who are not deaf/hearing impaired - From NPR News January 8th through January 18th, 2018
54% of boys who are deaf/hearing impaired have been sexually abused in comparison to 10% of boys who are not deaf/hearing impaired - From NPR News January 8th through January 18th, 2018
Only 3% of sexual assault is reported by people with ID/DD
Fear and/or anxiety will stop people from reporting.
In 2010, intimate partner violence accounted for 13% of violence against persons with disabilities, similar to the percentage of violence against persons without disabilities (14%).
People with disabilities are victimized by crime at higher rates than the rest of the population, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The term “disability,” as used by the Department of Justice in the NCVS, includes a wide range of limitations such as sensory (vision, hearing), cognitive, self-care, and ambulatory or mobility limitations.
People with different disabilities may face different challenges and have very different needs. Some disabilities may put people at higher risk for crimes like sexual assault or abuse.
In 2010, victims with disabilities (55%) were as likely as victims without disabilities (57%) to use any type of resistance during a violent crime, including threatening or attacking the offender.