Rape of individuals with disability: AIDS and the folk belief of virgin cleansing

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) 2004-05, Vol.363 (9422), p.1663-1664
• Main Authors: Groce, Nora Ellen, Trasi, Reshma
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - therapy; Disabled Persons; Female; Humans; Male; Medicine, Traditional; People with disabilities; Rape; Sexual Abstinence; Sexual assault; Social life & customs
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(04)16288-0

Individuals with disability are presumably at risk both because they are, incorrectly, often assumed to be sexually inactive, hence virgins,4 and because they might be easy targets. Even before the advent of AIDS, women and men with disability suffered an equal, or up to three times greater, risk of rape by a stranger or acquaintance, than their non-disabled peers.8-10 Many individuals with disability are physically vulnerable.8 Some must relegate part or all of their care to attendants, family members, or others, or live in institutions; situations in which abuse is rife worldwide.9,10 Additionally some researchers argue that individuals with disability are often psychologically vulnerable. Nosek et al,11 for example, suggest that overprotection and internalised societal expectations make women with disability more vulnerable to psychological pressure for sex and intimacy. Womendez and Schneiderman12 note that young disabled individuals have few opportunities to learn to set boundaries for physical contact. Studies from the UK13 report that men with intellectual disabilities who live in the community are often pressured into having sex with non-disabled men whom they meet in public toilets; participating because they are lonely and anxious to please their new supposed friends.