Disabled people face greater risk of sexual assault , North Carolina :By David Morrison

Volunteers with the Rape Crisis Center of Coastal Horizons Center Hugh Potts (L) and Cassandra Herion (bed) work with counselor/advocate Jessica Green (R) as they instruct law enforcement officer students on the basics of working with victims of sex crimes during their Basic Law Enforcement Training class at Brunswick Community College's North Campus.

The National Center for Victims of Crime reports that North Carolina residents with disabilities experience sexual assault at a rate five times greater than a non-disabled person.

Jessica Green, advocate for victims with disabilities at the Rape Crisis Center of Coastal Horizons Center Inc., said she has her hands full on a daily basis.

"No two days are the same, but I believe the state is catching on to the need for these types of services," Green said.

Serving both New Hanover and Brunswick counties, Green provides direct services to victims as well as sexual assault awareness education throughout the community. 

Green developed an eight-week curriculum titled "Protecting Me" which can be adapted for audiences from school-age children to Basic Law Enforcement Training groups. Green recently conducted a BLET course in which she asked students to participate in scenarios designed to prepare them for victim interaction.

"In order to spread the word about this program, RCC needs volunteers who want to step up and learn the material so that they can then share it with others," she said. 

Training sessions like these are one method the Rape Crisis Center uses to accomplish outreach. Green will be providing a free seminar open to the community on Wednesday at the New Hanover County Government Center.

The Rape Crisis Center also is in the process of developing criteria for ensuring that various community partners are aware of the services provided and how to access them. The results of the first phase known as the Community Readiness Survey will be announced in late April in recognition of Sexual Assault Activism Month.

Green indicated that as valuable as education and awareness events can be, reporting an incident of abuse remains paramount if perpetrators are to be caught. 

In the 1995 Sexual Abuse Interview for those with Developmental Disabilities, published by the James Stanfield Co., Denise Valenti-Hein and Linda Schwartz found that "only 3 percent of sexual abuse cases involving people with developmental disabilities were reported to law enforcement". 

Nora J. Baladerian has directed the Disability and Abuse Project since 1991. In that same year, she wrote, "88 percent to 97 percent of abusers are known and trusted by the victim who has developmental disabilities. Of those, 32 percent were family members or acquaintances and 44 percent had a relationship with the victim/survivor specifically related to the person's disability such as a residential care staff, a provider for transportation or personal care."

Green advised family members, caregivers and others to listen when abuse is reported.

"If someone were to come forward with a disclosure, just believe the individual no matter who the person is," Green said.

"It can be so harmful for someone to disclose to a family member or trusted friend and that person not to believe them and not get the help they need," she added.

Green has reapplied for funding and other federal grants to increase accessibility for the Coastal Horizons Center with the ultimate goal of increasing reports and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions. In the near future all staff will be trained on how to handle a disclosure.

While continued funding and community awareness can be seen as successes, Green cautioned those who anticipate a positive outcome that not all cases will lead to conviction. 

"We can only give the victim the information on the process so that the individual must make the decision to file a report or not," Green said.

"If they do (file a report) we guide them through the law enforcement procedure, careful never to offer guarantees that the perpetrator will be arrested," she said

Green said the shortest waiting period for a trial could be up to a year, but victims and their families may receive counseling or other services as needed during that time.

Coastal Horizons services are free and confidential, and available seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Staff will respond to hospitals and police stations, and accept crisis walk-ins at the office, 615 Shipyard Blvd.

Source :  Star News Online ( 14th April 2013 )