Twentytwo13

Investigators need new approaches to probe sexual abuse cases among kids with disabilities

Sexual abuse among children with disabilities is rarely talked about.

Women’s Centre for Change advocacy officer, S. Hastiny, says police statistics showed 6,897 sexual crimes were committed against children, between 2018 and 2020.

“The statistics do not include the number of unreported and undisclosed cases. Besides, there is insufficient data on sexual abuse cases among children with special needs,” said Hastiny.

“Sexual abuse can happen to any child, including those with disabilities. Children with disabilities are at a higher risk of being sexually abused due to their cognitive or communication challenges in expressing what had happened to them. There are chances for the perpetrators to take advantage of their disabilities and continue to abuse them.”

Hastiny said WCC handles “a few cases” of sexual abuse involving children with disabilities, annually.

“Reporting a crime or disclosing sexual abuse might be scary for the victims, more so children with special needs. Oftentimes, the perpetrator grooms the child to the extent that the child is confused and may not even know that what is happening to him or her, is sexual abuse.

“Hence, some of the cases go undisclosed and unreported.”

“For reported cases, based on our observations, it is challenging for the enforcement personnel, such as the investigating officer (police), to investigate, as the child has difficulty in articulating the incident(s).

“We need more child specialists, sign language interpreters, and caregivers to support the child, and to help in the investigations,” she added.

She added that people around the child, including the parents and caregivers, were often unaware that sexual abuse can happen to children with special needs.

Last month, WCC unveiled its latest online storybook – Sara Says “No”. It is a story about Sara, a girl with cerebral palsy, who was sexually assaulted by the van driver who ferries her to school. The book is an expansion of WCC’s online storybooks.

“By producing this storybook, we hope to raise awareness of the vulnerabilities of children with disabilities, and create space for discussions on this topic. The books are targeted at children, parents, educators, caregivers, and people who work with children.

“They can read the book with their children and discuss the story with them. Children need to be taught about ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’, and what to do when something goes wrong.”

WCC has an ‘OK, Tak OK’ programme to teach children about personal safety.

“We have reached out to over 50,000 children and teenagers through our awareness programmes to prevent child sexual abuse. Among our signature programmes is ‘Bijak Itu Selamat’ (BIS – Be Smart, Be Safe) training for educators.

“BIS was developed in 2001 as an educational package to train teachers and educators to carry out child sexual abuse prevention programmes for those aged 10 to 12. Since then, the programme has been extended to reach out to younger children, as well.

Hastiny said BIS provides teachers and educators with information on how to teach personal safety skills to children, and to be more sensitive to those who have been abused.

“They can then teach children to be more assertive when it comes to their personal safety. Teachers and educators will also learn the importance of listening to children and be equipped with knowledge on how to help, should the need arise. In 2021, we trained more than 100 teachers and educators using this programme.”

In the ‘OK, Tak OK’ programme for children, WCC facilitators will use scenarios and short stories from WCC’s ‘OK, Tak OK’ video to help children, aged 10 to 12, to understand the difference between ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’. The sing-along song in the video also teaches children how to protect themselves and seek help from a trusted adult.

“This method of interaction breaks away from the formal classroom teaching, to informal, and using creative ways of approaching the issue. Children will remember the stories and the skills taught when the information is presented in a sensitive, yet fun way.”

WCC also has a cybersafety programme for teenagers. The programme highlights the dangers of online violence.

“This programme aims to get teenagers to think about their personal safety when socialising, using online social media. WCC advocates the use of appropriate security and privacy settings in online accounts, and delves into the realities of online friendships, and the dangers of online pictures and posts.

“Besides educating teenagers, we also train teachers and educators to carry out this programme in schools. We also produced a cybersafety guidebook, which provides information about the types of online sexual abuse, how to recognise online red flags, and steps that can be taken when children or teenagers are being exploited online.”