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What is the issue?
Several cases of disabled children and adults who have been sexually abused in some way have made the news recently.
Cases such as the recent one involving the mentally deficient young woman who was severely abused in a sex trafficking case from Lebanon have made big news in Missouri and nationally. As of this printing, four of the five men involved in the case have been convicted and a trial is pending for the fifth.
Even more recently in local news, a case was filed in Camdenton and another in Pulaski County alleging the sexual abuse of a person with a disability.
Why or how did it become an issue?
Unfortunately, people with developmental disabilities or mential deficiencies are targeted for abuse by perpetrators because often they do not have the ability or understanding to report or stop the abuse from happening.
According to The Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s information sheet series that cites numerous respected sources including law enforcement, courts, pshyciatrists and doctors, 15,000 to 19,000 people with developmental disabilities are raped each year in the United States.
The Coalition said that an estimated 83 percent of women with a disability will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
You may know someone at risk
According to Pulaski County Board for the Handicapped Executive Director Andrea Purdome, they are currently serving over 80 individuals with developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome and autism. This is only the number of individuals PCBH serves and is not representative of the number of individuals living in the county that have disabilities.
According to city-data.com, which gets their information from the census, social security and public information resources, there are 356 children between 5 and 15 years-old that are mentally disabled in Pulaski County. City-data.com reports that there are 99 youth ages 16 to 20 years-old and 848 individuals between 21 and 64 years-old living in Pulaski County that are mentally disabled.
Be alert and be caring
PCBH executive director Andrea Purdome said, “The more caring people they have in their lives, the safer they are,” in reference to this issue.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities offers advice on prevention and recognizing the signs of abuse.
APD says educating and providing self-protection information to the individual with the disability is the most important thing to do, but also warns that loved ones should be watchful of caregivers by doing background checks, unnanounced visits and ensuring the individual has a large social network so that he or she is not alone too much.
What is the issue?
Several cases of disabled children and adults who have been sexually abused in some way have made the news recently.
Cases such as the recent one involving the mentally deficient young woman who was severely abused in a sex trafficking case from Lebanon have made big news in Missouri and nationally. As of this printing, four of the five men involved in the case have been convicted and a trial is pending for the fifth.
Even more recently in local news, a case was filed in Camdenton and another in Pulaski County alleging the sexual abuse of a person with a disability.
Why or how did it become an issue?
Unfortunately, people with developmental disabilities or mential deficiencies are targeted for abuse by perpetrators because often they do not have the ability or understanding to report or stop the abuse from happening.
According to The Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s information sheet series that cites numerous respected sources including law enforcement, courts, pshyciatrists and doctors, 15,000 to 19,000 people with developmental disabilities are raped each year in the United States.
The Coalition said that an estimated 83 percent of women with a disability will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.
You may know someone at risk
According to Pulaski County Board for the Handicapped Executive Director Andrea Purdome, they are currently serving over 80 individuals with developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome and autism. This is only the number of individuals PCBH serves and is not representative of the number of individuals living in the county that have disabilities.
According to city-data.com, which gets their information from the census, social security and public information resources, there are 356 children between 5 and 15 years-old that are mentally disabled in Pulaski County. City-data.com reports that there are 99 youth ages 16 to 20 years-old and 848 individuals between 21 and 64 years-old living in Pulaski County that are mentally disabled.
Be alert and be caring
PCBH executive director Andrea Purdome said, “The more caring people they have in their lives, the safer they are,” in reference to this issue.
The Agency for Persons with Disabilities offers advice on prevention and recognizing the signs of abuse.
APD says educating and providing self-protection information to the individual with the disability is the most important thing to do, but also warns that loved ones should be watchful of caregivers by doing background checks, unnanounced visits and ensuring the individual has a large social network so that he or she is not alone too much.
Signs
APD says to watch for the following signs:
• Recogize changes in health or behavior that are new or extreme and not associated with the disability.
• Physical symptoms such as bruises, incontinence in someone who did not have that problem, pain in the genital area, pulling hair, sudden difficulty walking or sitting, frequent urinary tract infections or yeast infections any other physical symptom that does not seem to have a recognizable cause.
• Behavioral changes such as the way affection is shown, especially if unusual or inappropriate, sudden fears of being touched, nightmares, difficulty sleeping, regressive behaviors like bedwetting, sudden unusual interest in or knowledge of sexual matters, fear of bathing or toileting, fear of person or place, depression withdrawal, or mood swings and any unexplained change in behavior.
