Sexual abuse against people with intellectual disabilities

Cilj ovoga rada je analiziranje problematike seksualnog nasilja nad osobama s intelektualnim teškoćama, odnosno, dan je kritički, znanstveni, ali i stručni pregled spoznaja te pregled dostupnih inozemnih istraživanja, ali i dostupnih istraživanja provedenih u Republici Hrvatskoj na ovu temu. Seksualno nasilje je jedan od najtežih oblika nasilja koji narušava osnovna ljudska prava i jedan je od najgorih oblika diskriminacije. Posljedice seksualnog nasilja su brojne i dugotrajne, a događa se da kod osoba s intelektualnim teškoćama ostaju i neotkrivene uslijed smanjene sposobnosti osoba s intelektualnim teškoćama da iskažu emocije i pričaju o svome psihičkom stanju. Brojni su čimbenici rizika koji pogoduju većoj vjerojatnosti da će osobe s intelektualnim teškoćama biti izložene seksualnom nasilju. Neki od njih su: slabije rasuđivanje, siromašna komunikacija i socijalne vještine, veće oslanjanja na pružatelje usluga, manjak znanja o seksualnosti, niska razina svijesti o zaštiti vlastitog dostojanstva i sigurnosti u spolnom ponašanju, nisko samopoštovanje, povodljivost u ponašanju, kognitivna ograničenja koja otežavaju procjenu opasnosti neke situacije, nerazvijene vještine vlastitog donošenja odluka, nedostatak edukacije o načinu obrane od spolne zloupotrebe. Što se tiče preventivnih programa, namijenjenih i prilagođenih osobama s intelektualnim teškoćama, u našoj zemlji je stanje nezadovoljavajuće, rad s djecom na ovome području često predstavlja dobru volju stručnjaka, roditelja, učitelja, iako istraživanja ukazuju na veliku učestalost seksualnog nasilja nad djecom i osobama s intelektualnim teškoćama. Potrebno je provesti sustavna istraživanja kako bi se utvrdila jasna rasprostranjenost seksualnog nasilja, kako bi se čimbenici rizika smanjili te prema tome voditi i registar. Nadalje, neophodno je zakone i propise provesti i u praksi, protokole prilagoditi i osobama s invaliditetom, a prevenciju seksualnog nasilja temeljiti na dokazima dobivenim kroz istraživanja. Potrebno je sustavno provoditi edukaciju samih osoba s intelektualnim teškoćama, educirati i obitelj, odgojno-obrazovne djelatnike i sve druge stručnjake koji su u kontaktu s ovom populacijom, sve u svrhu postizanja maksimalne zaštite ove populacije. Ovaj rad ukazuje na potrebu kreiranja novih smjernica i preporuka za pravovremeno sprječavanje zlostavljanja i pružanje podrške žrtvama seksualnog nasilja.The aim of this paper is to analyze the issue of sexual abuse against people with intellectual disabilities, ie, a critical, scientific and professional review of knowledge and review of available foreign research and available research conducted in the Republic of Croatia on this topic. Sexual abuse is one of the most severe forms of violence that violates basic human rights and is one of the worst forms of discrimination. The consequences of sexual abuse are numerous and long-lasting, and it happens that in people with intellectual disabilities they remain undetected due to the reduced ability of people with intellectual disabilities to express emotions and talk about their mental state. There are a number of risk factors that favor people with intellectual disabilities more likely to be exposed to sexual abuse. Some of them are: poor judgment, poor communication and social skills, greater reliance on service providers, lack of knowledge about sexuality, low level of awareness about protecting one's dignity and safety in sexual behavior, low self-esteem, behavioral coherence, cognitive limitations that make assessment difficult the dangers of a situation, the underdeveloped skills of one's own decision-making, the lack of education on how to defend oneself from sexual abuse. As for prevention programs, intended and adapted to people with intellectual disabilities, the situation in our country is unsatisfactory, working with children in this area often represents the good will of experts, parents, teachers, although research indicates a high frequency of sexual violence against children and people with intellectual disabilities. Systematic research is needed to determine the clear prevalence of sexual violence, to reduce risk factors, and to keep a register accordingly. Furthermore, it is necessary to implement laws and regulations in practice, to adapt protocols to persons with disabilities, and to prevent the prevention of sexual abuse on the basis of evidence obtained through research. It is necessary to systematically educate people with intellectual disabilities, to educate the family, educators and all other professionals who are in contact with this population, all in order to achieve maximum protection of this population. This paper points to the need to create new guidelines and recommendations for the timely prevention of abuse and the provision of support to victims of sexual abuse