Newsletter: January 2004: Justice For All

In the moments before I meet a woman with mental retardation who is a complainant in a sexual assault case in Brooklyn, I remind myself that this is probably not the first time she was raped. But it may be the first time an outcry witness -- the person she first told about the incident -- believed her.

The NYS Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilites defines developmental disabilities as a variety of conditions that become apparent in childhood and cause mental or physical limitations.  Developmental disabilities are: autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, mental retardation and a category called “other neurological impairments.”  The rate of sexual abuse and repeat abuse among women with developmental disabilities is staggering. One study found that more than 70% of women with developmental disabilities had been sexually assaulted (Dubin, 2000) and others consistently show that women with developmental disabilities are much more likely to experience sexual violence than other women (Sobsey, 2000). Dick Sobsey's seminal University of Alberta Violence and Disability Project (1991) of women with developmental disabilities found that the majority experienced repeated sexual assaults, and almost half (46%) were sexually assaulted on more than 10 occasions.  

Yet across the U.S., the number of criminal cases involving victims with developmental disabilities in no way reflects the rate of abuse indicated in the research.  With the exception of a few jurisdictions such as Brooklyn, those crimes are not even tracked.

So where is the door slamming shut? Who is doing the slamming?  

We all need to take responsibility. To paraphrase researcher Sobsey, when we consciously or unconsciously dismiss the stories of people with developmental disabilities, we give license to the perpetrator.  The low level of concern for people with mental retardation (MR), the lack of knowledge and willingness to learn about this community, along with damaging, knee-jerk stereotyping, helps facilitate the crime, helps the criminal repeat the crime, and does indeterminate psychological and physical damage to the woman.

Barrier Free Justice is a project at the Kings County District Attorney's Office (Brooklyn) that advocates for and supports women with psychiatric, physical and cognitive disabilities who are complainants in sexual assault or domestic violence cases. It has been funded by the Violence Against Women Office (VAWA) since 2000, and is a collaboration of the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, Barrier Free Living and South Brooklyn Legal Services.  Social workers and lawyers team up to ensure that the door to the justice system is open, and a route through it is provided. In addition to direct service work with victims, the project trains criminal justice professionals about how to work with people with disabilities, and trains social service providers about how to improve their work within the criminal justice and Family Court systems.

The disability project is embedded in the system in Brooklyn. Sex Crimes Bureau Chief Rhonnie Jaus was instrumental in changing the law as it applies to people with psychiatric or developmental disabilities via the Sexual Assault Reform Act.  The project is notified when a case involving a woman with a disability comes to the D.A.'s office. (Not all disabilities are immediately apparent. Thus, the importance of integrating the project with the overall work of the D.A.'s office.) Assistant District Attorneys are trained about disability protocol. Senior prosecutors provide oversight of disability cases. And the social worker and prosecutor collaborate to assist the woman through the complicated and often intimidating court process. Safety planning/risk reduction, counseling and case management are prioritized.

Based on the high rate of abuse, repeat abuse, and the positive changes in Brooklyn as a result of Barrier Free Justice, VAWA awarded the Brooklyn D.A.'s Office and YAI/National Institute for People With Disabilities a new grant that focuses exclusively on women with mental retardation/developmental disabilities (MR/DD) who have been sexually assaulted. The "Sexual Assault in the MR/DD Community" project, launched in November, educates criminal justice and social service professionals, as well as neighborhood community groups, about mental retardation and its culture and community. It teaches interviewing skills, corrects myths and challenges stereotypes associated with MR.

Factors underlying abuse in MR/DD are wide-ranging. Though few may admit it, many people, even well-meaning ones, view adults with MR as somehow less than fully human, or as children. As a result, a woman with MR who is raped is not provided counseling because "she probably does not understand what happened to her," or "cannot benefit from counseling," an egregious lack of judgment, and, we contend, a widespread problem. The lack of mental health services for people with MR is more evidence of this societal view.  Additionally, uninformed people may view women with MR as people who need pity, handholding, who are forever "dependent."  Agencies such as YAI have worked to reverse this thinking for decades, with a range of innovative programs and mental health services. "Pride in MR" and independence movements are the hallmarks of many good MR/DD agencies, but this thinking has not reached the general population.  So, as individuals with MR and advocates make steady progress, general society lags far behind.

Nationally, the criminal justice system contributes to the problem as well: There is no question that police and prosecution investigations involving victims with MR will take longer and are more vulnerable to being dismissed than cases involving people without a disability. With huge caseloads, and a time-pressured criminal justice system, natural human behavior dictates that the more straightforward cases (i.e., those involving women without disabilities) will be attended to first.  For prosecutors who do not have MR training and do not have access to programs like Barrier Free Justice, the cases may remain in investigation stages for a very long time.  In the meantime, the perpetrator is out on the street. The crime is repeated. Another, or the same, woman is assaulted. And we have sent her the loud message that her word is not good. That she is not valued.

To learn more about disability and abuse, attend the Barrier Free Justice bi-monthly workshops on disability and abuse. Also, the new "Sexual Assault in the MR/DD Community" project provides field trainings on working with women with MR.  For more information, to join our mailing list, or to schedule a training, call the Counseling Services Unit of the Brooklyn D.A.'s Office at 718-250-3820/3823, TTY (718) 250-2338 or email Peg Horan at horanm@brooklynda.org

Peg Horan is Coordinator of Barrier Free Justice, at the Kings County District Attorney's Office.  


References:
Dubin, Marc (2000). Serving Women with Developmental Disabilities: Strategies for the Justice System. Impact, Vol. 13, Num. 3. Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota.

Sobsey,Dick (2000). Faces of Violence Against Women with Developmental Disabilities. Impact, Vol. 13, Num. 3. Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota.

Peg Horan is Coordinator of Barrier Free Justice, at the Kings County District Attorney's Office. [more]

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