ABSTRACT
The aims of this report were to provide a description of sexual abuse among adult women with mild mental retardation and to examine the characteristics and experiences of the sexual abuse among these adults.
Data collected in a 55-item structured interview from fourteen, predominantly Caucasian women in a community based, non-clinical population, were used to achieve the aims of the report.
Nearly 82% of survivors were molested prior to their 18th birthday. Sex education appeared not to prevent abuse, but instead appeared to increase the reporting of sexual abuse. The vast majority of survivors received no medical, psychological, or legal help.
The conclusion to be drawn from this report is that barriers are effectively erected which prevent women with mental retardation, who are also survivors of sexual abuse, access to the same essential therapeutic intervention non-retarded women possess.
