by Sammy-Ellie MacKinnon | Apr 29, 2025 | Brain Injury Advocacy, Community Inclusion, Deaf Services, Developmental Disability Advocacy, Mental Health Advocacy
This April marks the 24th anniversary of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Since 2001, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) has designated April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month to lift up and support survivors of sexual violence across the country. The theme of this year is “Together We Act, United We Change.” Now more than ever, it is up to all of us to work together to support survivors and organizations working to prevent sexual abuse, assault, and harassment from happening in the first place.
While sexual violence can happen to anyone at any time, we know that certain groups of people are even more at risk, including people with disabilities and members of the Deaf community.
- People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are seven times more likely to be sexually abused than people without disabilities.
- Only 3% of sexual abuse against people with developmental disabilities is ever reported.
- Deaf people are twice as likely to have experienced sexual abuse than those that are hearing.
These national statistics point out that the disability community is often exposed to the trauma of sexual violence even more so than people without disabilities. How do we change this?
One starting place is creating the space and tools to allow people with disabilities and members of the Deaf community to make their experiences known—to tell their stories and make sure people know that sexual violence should not be the reality for so many.
Some points to consider when working with survivors and especially disabled survivors include:
- Being aware of physical, policy, and communication barriers that can prevent survivors from reaching out for help;
- Believing survivors when they reach out to you;
- Following the pace of the survivor;
- Listening to what the survivor has to say without unnecessary interruption;
- Don’t assume. Ask what the survivor wants to do or what information they need;
- Using plain language in oral and written materials;
- Determining the best way to communicate with the person— for example, do they need a sign language interpreter?
- If you don’t know something, committing to finding the answer or best resource; and
- Collaborating with disability and self-advocacy agencies, like Disability Rights Maine and Speaking Up For Us, for trainings and materials.
Something else to think about is ensuring access to education about relationships for people with disabilities. Because of societal stigma, people with disabilities do not receive the same education as their peers about healthy friendships and intimate partner relationships. This targeted education is critical because of how common violence against people with disabilities is. People with disabilities deserve access to the same information as everyone else!
This Sexual Assault Awareness Month let’s all lean into the idea of “Together We Act, United We Change” and lift up the voices of survivors with disabilities!
If you need support please consider the following resources:
Maine Sexual Assault Helpline at 1-800-871-7741
Maine Domestic Abuse Helpline at 1-866-834-4357
Maine Crisis Hotline at 1-888-568-1112
by Sammy-Ellie MacKinnon | Apr 20, 2023 | Developmental Disability Advocacy, Success Stories
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), and this year the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) has made the theme of this year’s SAAM Drawing Connection: Prevention Demands Equity. As the State of Maine’s Protection & Advocacy organization (P&A) for people with disabilities, DRM is committed to lifting up the often silenced and ignored voices of disabled survivors of sexual violence.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, people with disabilities are survivors of violence 4 times more than people without disabilities (2021). Nationally, as many as 83% of women and 32% of men with developmental disabilities experience sexual violence (MECASA). Even with these really high numbers, we know that sexual violence (especially against people with disabilities) is not talked about enough.
People with disabilities, encounter many barriers to getting help with sexual violence. Will I be believed? Will medical or law enforcement staff know how to support me? Something mentioned less often is the intersection of sexual violence and guardianship. A large number of people with disabilities are under guardianship, where most often a family member or caregiver is given the legal authority to make all decisions – medical and the day-to-day. This reduces the rights of people with disabilities to self-determination, which itself is a major protective factor against sexual violence. The issue of guardianship in particular needs to be a part of any conversations involving sexual violence against people with disabilities. While many sexual violence response systems have made great strides to support survivors who also have disabilities, there is still work to do at the systemic level.
Part of the issue is not just with response, but also with prevention and education. For far too many people with disabilities, we are infantilized and spoken for. Even today in 2023, some people still think that people with disabilities are not interested in intimacy at all. This makes supporting survivors difficult, because the false assumption is that people with disabilities are not having sex. Supporting disabled survivors of violence means there has to be prevention before it even takes place.
Not just this month, but every month, agencies who work with people with disabilities need to be thinking about how to incorporate accessible information about sexual violence and sex education. People with disabilities have been missing from this conversation, and they need to be included. People with disabilities are adults and are entitled to have information made available to them around sexuality and safe practices.
Disability Rights Maine and our partners with Speaking Up For Us (SUFU), the Maine Coalition to End Sexual Violence (MECASA), and the Maine Association of Community Service Providers (MACSP) will begin to address the unique needs of Mainer’s with disabilities through a grant award from the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). The OVW Disability Grant gives DRM the opportunity to partner with these statewide organizations to better understand the needs and develop capacity to better support people with disabilities who have faced sexual violence. This collaboration is going to conduct an in-depth needs assessment for sexual violence survivors with disabilities across the state of Maine, and then develop a strategic plan to address those barriers.
Stay tuned for updates in the coming months for ways to participate in the needs assessment
