I think they're focusing on the wrong problem here...

[mahogany]

I was reading this article on how mentally disabled people aren't really able to testify, and thus help prosecute their attackers, and all I can really think about is this line:

During their lifetimes, research suggests, 83 per cent of women with disabilities are sexually abused; 80 per cent of female psychiatric in-patients will be physically or sexually assaulted.


What??? How is it that this is still allowed to happen? What is someone with a mentally ill relative that is either a danger to herself or others supposed to do? Have her committed, so she can be raped? Clearly, we need female only hospitals staffed exclusively by females.

Evidence rules leave disabled Canadian girls open to sex abuse

Comments

[blaueteufelin.livejournal.com]

Power is absolutely gendered, especially when its sexualized. Women are more vulnerable to sexual assault than men. However, I think it's very dangerous to assume that children will be safe in an all-female environment. Women can and do sexually, physically, and emotionally abuse others, and on top of that, I think (I'm not certain) the gender disparity is not nearly as pronounced with child survivors of sexual violence as it is with adult survivors.

I think it's important to think about such issues in intersectional ways. Women with disabilities are almost certainly more vulnerable to sexual and other forms of violence than men with disabilities, but men with disabilities are more vulnerable than physically/mentally abled men.

[mahogany.livejournal.com]

However, I think it's very dangerous to assume that children will be safe in an all-female environment.

I agree - particularly if you include all forms of abuse such as mental and emotional abuse, I think women are equally guilty (I'm assuming you're referring to my comments to Tatianne). However, I think a child in an all female environment is substantially less likely to be physically or sexually assaulted.

[blaueteufelin.livejournal.com]

I don't know about less likely to be physically assaulted (thinking of the case of the Magdalene Sisters in Ireland, for example), but I do agree that a child in an all-female environment is a lot less likely to be sexually assaulted.

Just to be totally clear I don't mean any disrespect to your best judgment about how to keep your kids safe! I guess my personal hesitation re: kids not being alone with male adults is that it's a blunt tool in a number of ways. There are more specific warning signs for predators that kids can be taught to recognize - e.g., being asked to keep something secret from their parents, or receiving unusual levels of individual attention from an adult - and they can be given specific, age-appropriate information and language about what predatory behavior and inappropriate touching looks like, and a framework where they know they can go to parents or other trusted adults if they ever feel uncomfortable or unsafe. That gives them tools they can use to keep themselves safe from predators of whatever gender. I guess part of where I'm coming from is that I think cross-generational relationships are hugely important for kids, and it seems a shame not to be able to form them with male adults who aren't relatives.

[mahogany.livejournal.com]

No worries - I wasn't taking you comments as an affront to my judgement :-)

I do think that one of the saddest things about child abuse - particularly when it is perpetrated by a family member, or trusted friend or mentor is that it has the possibility to forever leave people questioning their judgement. The parents of the child who let that person into their lives, may never trust anyone again. The child him/herself may develop trust issues. It's sad because in addition to the relationship and the solid character formation that comes from cross generational relationships, there is the knowledge that's passed on, and there is the transmission of culture and traditions, which is of paramount importance these days.