Research Shows 9 Out of 10 Autistic Women Have Been the Victim of Sexual Violence

According to a recent study, 9 out of 10 autistic women have been victims of sexual violence. The findings, published in Frontiers in Behavioral Science, show that most victims were 15 years old or younger when they experienced the first instance of assault. In addition, the majority of the women studied reported having experienced multiple instances of aggression. However, only a small percentage filed a complaint or received care.

The Frontiers study is reportedly one of the largest studies on autistic women. Prior research showed the rate of sexual aggression against non-autistic women to be one on three. However, seventy-five percent of study participants reported having been victimized multiple times, and two-thirds reported that the abuse began when they were under 18. Those who were abused when they were under 18 had a higher risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder. Only one-third of victims reported the assaults; even then, there was no follow-up treatment or prosecution.

One study author stated: "Given that being on the autism spectrum condition is characterized by experiencing difficulties in social communication, such as decoding hidden intentions and emotions of others, understanding implicit communication and elements of context, it is expected that women on the spectrum may be at considerable risk for sexual victimization, a hypothesis confirmed by all published studies on this topic."

Researchers noted that because many victims were under 18 when first victimized, education may not be the most effective form of prevention. Instead, they concluded that systemic change would be needed to address this issue stating that "Large-scale prevention programs proposed by World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control aim at cultural changes in order to diminish gender inequality that they identify as the very root of sexual violence."

These Frontier findings are consistent with a 2018 Swedish twin study that found that girls with autism from ages 9 to 18 were three times as likely to experience sexual assault as girls without a diagnosis. Coupled with the fact that females are more likely to experience delayed diagnosis, many more undiagnosed women and girls with autism may have experienced sexual violence.

If you or a loved one has a mental disability and has been arrested or convicted of a crime, you need an experienced criminal defense attorney on your side. Elizabeth Kelley specializes in representing individuals with mental disabilities. To schedule a consultation, contact us or call (509) 991-7058.

In The News

Fractured: The Wait Inmates With Mental Illness Endure Because They’re Too Sick For Trial

You’ve probably heard a lot about our country’s mental health crisis.

Crisis also describes North Carolina’s mental health system. It is harder to access mental health care here than most other states, and that affects everyone … particularly the most vulnerable. Like inmates who are too sick to stand trial. They often wait months in custody for the treatment they need just to be well enough to go to court. As of last month, there were 201 inmates in North Carolina waiting for a state hospital bed.

Read Now

Inmate Stuck on US Death Row Despite Vacated Death Sentence

CHICAGO (AP) — When the U.S. prisons director visited the penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, this past week, she stopped by the federal death row where Bruce Webster is in a solitary, 12-by-7 foot cell, 23 hours a day.

Webster's not supposed to be there. A federal judge in Indiana ruled in 2019 that the 49-year-old has an IQ in the range of severe intellectual disability and so cannot be put to death.

But four years on, the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Prisons haven’t moved him to a less restrictive unit or different prison.

Read Now

Teen with life-threatening depression finally found hope. Then insurance cut her off

Rose had already attempted suicide at least half a dozen times before the teenager's parents found an appropriate residential care facility for her, three states and more than 500 miles away.

Rose, then 15, had been in and out of the emergency department at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. She had tried two residential programs and one partial hospitalization program in two separate states. But nothing had eased her suicidal urges.

Finally, she was getting a treatment that was helping at Rogers Behavioral Health in Oconomowoc, Wis., a small town 35 minutes west of Milwaukee.

Read Now

Man with schizophrenia was left naked in jail cell for weeks before death, video shows

New surveillance video from inside an Indiana jail shows how a 29-year-old man who died in the summer of 2021 from dehydration and malnutrition was left naked in solitary confinement for three weeks with no medical attention.

The footage was released on Wednesday by the family of Joshua McLemore as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit against Jackson county, Indiana. The suit accuses the local sheriff, jail commander and medical staff of causing McLemore’s death through deliberate indifference, neglect and unconstitutional jail conditions while he was in a state of psychosis.

Read Now

When homelessness and mental illness overlap, is forced treatment compassionate?

Many of Portland's least fortunate live in tents pitched on sidewalks or in aging campers parked in small convoys behind grocery stores.

High housing costs and financial adversity are the primary root causes behind the burgeoning population on the streets; only about one in three people who are homeless in Portland report having a mental illness or a substance use disorder, or both.

But the combination of homelessness with substance use or untreated mental illnesses has led to a lot of very public tragedies.

Read Now

Here's What LA County Is Doing—And Not Doing—To Move People With Mental Illness Out Of Jail

In recent years, Los Angeles County has voted to close one of its largest jails and invested in alternatives to incarceration, including diverting people with mental health needs out of jail and into treatment. The county is well aware of the problems inside its jails, yet conditions in the jails remain an ongoing crisis and the number of people with mental illnesses inside the jails has surged.

Advocates, mental health professionals, and attorneys who spoke with The Appeal said they were frustrated at the lack of progress and questioned the county’s commitment to change.