Sexual Abuse and People who use Augmentative Communication

What is Sexual Abuse?

Sexual abuse is an act (verbal and/or physical), which violates a person’s trust and/or safety, and is sexual in nature. Sexual conduct becomes abuse when a person is unable to consent to consent to an activity, does not consent and or when a service providers engages in sexual contact with a client. It includes unwanted touching and fondling, date/acquaintance/partner rape, caregiver sexual assault/abuse/stranger rape, incest, child sexual abuse, sexual harassment, exposure.

Victims / survivors of sexual abuse can be forced, coerced, and /or manipulated into participating in sexual activities. (Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.)

Why are people who use AAC at risk for abuse?

Offenders often seek people that they perceive to be vulnerable and isolated from services and support. Negative attitudes, misperceptions and stereotypes about people with disabilities and a subsequent history of oppression puts people with disabilities at an increased risk to experience sexual abuse. (Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault.)

In addition, people who use AAC may have increased risk because:

• They might be perceived as not being able to tell someone about the abuse.
• The offender may think that they have nobody to tell and that if they do tell that they may not be believed.
• They may rely on many different people to provide their services.
• They may have few opportunities to make their own decisions and may have learned to be compliant to someone who appears to ‘know what’s best”.
• They may not have the words and/or pictures they need to communicate about abuse.

Where does sexual abuse occur?

Most abuse happens where a person lives: a private residence, group home, long term care facility, institution and other community care facilities. Sexual abuse can also occur in parks, taxis, recreational centers, hospitals, clinics, schools etc. Sexual abuse can happen anywhere.

Who are the abusers?

Most people are abused by someone that they know. In many cases this is a person in a position of trust or care. It may be a family member, attendant, relative or friend. However, offenders can also be clinicians, teachers, bus drivers, medical professionals etc.

How many people who use AAC experience sexual abuse?

There is no research that tells us the number of people who use AAC and who have experienced sexual abuse. What we do know is that the risk of sexual abuse is higher for people with disabilities than for people who do not have disabilities. The risk appears to increase with the amount of disability experienced (Sobsey and Varnhagen, 1988)

What can we do to reduce the risk of abuse for people who use AAC:

We can all do something to build a safer world in which people who use AAC can be free from sexual abuse.

We need to ensure that AAC users have:

• Opportunities to develop self-esteem, personal dignity and identity.
• Information about healthy sexuality and sexual abuse.
• Access to vocabularies and opportunities to communicate about sexuality and abuse.
• Opportunities to choose their own lifestyles and relationship choices.
• Equal and barrier free access to their communities and its services.
• People in their lives that they trust and with whom they can communicate regularly.