‘Idiot” and “imbecile”. Until the end of last year, these terms were still used to describe intellectually disabled people in South Africa, until the Sexual Offences Amendment Act of 1957 was replaced.
With derogatory language still so recently used in the legal system, South Africa still has a long way to go to ensure equal rights for its intellectually disabled citizens.
These most vulnerable South Africans continue to suffer gross sexual abuse and stigmatisation.
Mentally disabled children, in particular, are 30% more likely to be sexually abused than other children, says Charl Louw, counselling psychologist at the Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children in Johannesburg.
The children’s limited verbal abilities and their inability to understand what has happened to them makes it “virtually impossible” to prosecute sexual predators.
Research indicates that only 3% of cases of sexual abuse involving people with mental disabilities go to court.
No information is available about the conviction rate in such cases.
Fortunately, the new Criminal Procedure Act now takes into account a person’s mental age, when they testify in court.
“Imagine a six-year-old testifying in court how he was sexually abused. Yet, no one seemed to mind if a 30-year-old with the mental capacity of a six-year-old was put through that mental trauma.”
Nadine Nel, a control prosecutor for the sexual offences courts in Soweto, says intellectually impaired children are often sexually abused by more than one person, because they are so vulnerable.
“If there are no witnesses, the child can’t testify and nothing can be proved.”
Sexual offenders often claim that they did not know the person they had sex with is intellectually disabled.
“It is almost impossible to prove that the offender knew that the girl was mentally impaired,” says Louw.
Sheri Errington, a research psychologist, says that intellectually disabled children have never had access to formal sex education in South Africa before. This is despite research that shows that mentally disabled children are much more likely to report sexual abuse to caregivers if they had the necessary sex education.
Errington says the lack of sex education for intellectually disabled people creates a “breeding ground for the high levels of sexual abuse”.
In July, the Teddy Bear Clinic will run South Africa’s first sexual education course to train professionals and caregivers working with intellectually impaired children.
The course will also focus on the rights of disabled people to sexual expression: “The intellectually disabled have got the right to have sexual relationships.
“It is very difficult to balance their right to sexual expression and at the same time protect them from being exploited,” said Louw.