Sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings: a 3-year analysis of incidents reported to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate
Objectives To explore characteristics of sexual abuse within residential settings for people with an intellectual disability and to map out measures undertaken and improvement plans made by healthcare organisations after sexual abuse.Design Descriptive analysis of reports about sexual violence again...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2021-12-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e053317.full |
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| author | Ian Leistikow Jan-Willem Weenink Quirine Amelink Selini Roozen |
| author_facet | Ian Leistikow Jan-Willem Weenink Quirine Amelink Selini Roozen |
| author_sort | Ian Leistikow |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives To explore characteristics of sexual abuse within residential settings for people with an intellectual disability and to map out measures undertaken and improvement plans made by healthcare organisations after sexual abuse.Design Descriptive analysis of reports about sexual violence against persons with an intellectual disability submitted to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate by healthcare organisations.Setting Residential settings for people with an intellectual disability in The Netherlands.Selection 186 incident reports submitted to the Inspectorate between January 2017 and December 2019 were included.Results 125 incident reports concerned sexual abuse by fellow clients and 61 reports concerned sexual abuse by professionals. Client perpetrators were predominantly male whereas almost 30% of the abusing professionals were female. The majority of the perpetrating professionals were unlicensed professionals. Clients who committed sexual abuse were mostly relocated to another residential setting. Most healthcare organisations invested in education and training for employees instead of improving the sexual education programme for clients after an incident of sexual abuse. If there was a strong suspicion of sexual abuse by a professional, resignation followed in most cases. In just two cases, the perpetrating professional was reported to a warning registry.Conclusions A small amount of the perpetrating professionals held a licensed profession, which makes it challenging to address this form of sexual abuse through healthcare regulation. It raises the question why warning registries are not engaged more often after alleged sexual abuse. Constantly relocating abusing clients might endanger the (sexual) safety of clients in these new environments. Previous literature suggests that adequate sexual education regarding social skills and sexual behaviour is very effective for the majority of clients who commit sexual abuse. Healthcare organisations could take up a more prominent role in this to ensure safety for their own clients and for clients residing elsewhere. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c8bb2619dc4e4e3c8ae2f1f4f3fee915 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-c8bb2619dc4e4e3c8ae2f1f4f3fee9152025-08-20T02:48:49ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552021-12-01111210.1136/bmjopen-2021-053317Sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings: a 3-year analysis of incidents reported to the Dutch Health and Youth Care InspectorateIan Leistikow0Jan-Willem Weenink1Quirine Amelink2Selini Roozen3Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The NetherlandsErasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The NetherlandsLegal affairs, Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd, Heerlen, NetherlandsMental Healthcare, Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd, Heerlen, NetherlandsObjectives To explore characteristics of sexual abuse within residential settings for people with an intellectual disability and to map out measures undertaken and improvement plans made by healthcare organisations after sexual abuse.Design Descriptive analysis of reports about sexual violence against persons with an intellectual disability submitted to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate by healthcare organisations.Setting Residential settings for people with an intellectual disability in The Netherlands.Selection 186 incident reports submitted to the Inspectorate between January 2017 and December 2019 were included.Results 125 incident reports concerned sexual abuse by fellow clients and 61 reports concerned sexual abuse by professionals. Client perpetrators were predominantly male whereas almost 30% of the abusing professionals were female. The majority of the perpetrating professionals were unlicensed professionals. Clients who committed sexual abuse were mostly relocated to another residential setting. Most healthcare organisations invested in education and training for employees instead of improving the sexual education programme for clients after an incident of sexual abuse. If there was a strong suspicion of sexual abuse by a professional, resignation followed in most cases. In just two cases, the perpetrating professional was reported to a warning registry.Conclusions A small amount of the perpetrating professionals held a licensed profession, which makes it challenging to address this form of sexual abuse through healthcare regulation. It raises the question why warning registries are not engaged more often after alleged sexual abuse. Constantly relocating abusing clients might endanger the (sexual) safety of clients in these new environments. Previous literature suggests that adequate sexual education regarding social skills and sexual behaviour is very effective for the majority of clients who commit sexual abuse. Healthcare organisations could take up a more prominent role in this to ensure safety for their own clients and for clients residing elsewhere.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e053317.full |
| spellingShingle | Ian Leistikow Jan-Willem Weenink Quirine Amelink Selini Roozen Sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings: a 3-year analysis of incidents reported to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate BMJ Open |
| title | Sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings: a 3-year analysis of incidents reported to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate |
| title_full | Sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings: a 3-year analysis of incidents reported to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate |
| title_fullStr | Sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings: a 3-year analysis of incidents reported to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings: a 3-year analysis of incidents reported to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate |
| title_short | Sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings: a 3-year analysis of incidents reported to the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate |
| title_sort | sexual abuse of people with intellectual disabilities in residential settings a 3 year analysis of incidents reported to the dutch health and youth care inspectorate |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e053317.full |
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