ERIS and private practice team up to raise awareness on sexual abuse of neurodiverse individuals |24 August 2021

NeuroSey logo (photo left) and ERIS logo

Local non-profit End Rape In Seychelles (ERIS) and NeuroSey, a private practice that offers services relating to neurological conditions and disorders, have teamed up to raise awareness on sexual abuse of children and persons who are neurodiverse and those who are most vulnerable in the society.

Neurodiverse refers to people who perceive the world in a different way from neurotypicals due to their cognitive ability and these include individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism, intellectual disability, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and developmental delays.

Founder and chairperson of ERIS, Anna Dorizzo, and the owner of NeuroSey, Sarentha Luther, says that there is a desperate need to shine a spotlight on sexual abuse of persons that are more vulnerable in our society.

The duo explains that predators tend to target persons with neurodevelopment conditions and intellectual disabilities because they know they are more vulnerable, more prone into being manipulated and can have difficulty testifying in court.

Studies undertaken in the United States have shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities are at a greater risk of experiencing sexual abuse, victimisation and physical abuse compared to the general population.

Ms Luther adds that, unfortunately, similar statistics are not available for Seychelles but her experiences dealing with the neurodiverse community in Seychelles has demonstrated that we could potentially be looking at an alarming issue.

“A child with intellectual disability can have difficulties understanding when they are in danger and when somebody does not have good intentions towards them so I wanted to pair up with ERIS to bring awareness to a demographic that is not really looked at,” says Ms Luther.

“I know this is a very controversial topic and a very hard one to talk about, and I even noticed on my Facebook page that content relating to this topic did not receive as many engagements as other topics. People did not like it as much, did not share it as much which shows us the psychology behind this but it is something that needs to be said.”

Ms Luther states that her readiness to join ERIS with this initiative also stems from her meetings with several minors with neurological conditions whereby it was recently found that they had been sexually abused for extended periods of time.

“That was a trigger for me. In both cases, the minors were assaulted by a family member or a close person. It is difficult to identify sexual abuse within this population given the fact that they will not display it the same way as other children that are neurotypicals – neurotypical is the termed use for someone who does not have a brain related disorder,” explains Ms Luther.

“Even I did not see it at first because it is so difficult to identify; you really have to probe and probe but the best way to know that a child with a brain related disorder has been sexually abused is by observing whether the frequency of the behaviours they are displaying is worse than before.”

For instance one of these indicative behaviours could be an increase in stimming, which is self-stimulating behaviours, usually involving repetitive movements or sound such as hand flapping.

“Also interviewing parents and family members could yield a lot of information,” she adds.

Ms Luther highlights that Seychelles does not have a lot of people trained in identifying sexual abuse and assault in this demographic.

“A lot of people will dismiss the child’s actions, saying ‘oh but the child is autistic or has ADHD so this is why he is acting like this’, without realising that maybe they are acting out more than usual because they are being abused and do not know how to say it. The best way they can communicate is to do what they usually do but more intensely.”

“We don’t ask the why, we don’t look further which is why these things are not noticed. One of the minors I mentioned had a social worker for years that never picked up on the abuse. I understand that it is not easy to do and people need further training to find the signs of abuse and trauma. The biggest thing you can do however is ask the child questions and get them to understand that they are in safe space to talk. To be able to do that caregivers such as teachers have to be compassionate towards these kids.”

Statistics collated by Ms Dorizzo from the Supreme Court shows that there were 20 registered sexual abuse cases in 2019, including minors, and 2020 saw 14 registered cases of sexual abuse, also including a minor.

For 2021 the country has recorded 19 cases of sexual abuse up to July which Ms Dorizzo stresses is alarming.

The Supreme Court also notes two registered offences of indecency towards a child for this year.

“However this is not the whole picture because there is a big discrepancy between cases that are reported to the police and the cases that actually go to court because not everybody takes it further. It is very difficult and draining – it takes a lot to bring these cases to court because people think of the reputation of their families or consider the added trauma,” states Ms Dorizzo.

It is often doubly harder to prosecute cases involving individuals with disabilities or neurological disorders.

For parents, ERIS and NeuroSey advise them to teach their children the accurate name of private parts and about ‘okay’ and ‘not okay’ touches, as well as to teach them how to be self-sufficient so they do not have to depend on another person for their toilet and bathing needs.

“ERIS hopes to bring together experts from each field and Sarentha, who is an expert in psychology, is one of them. We also have somebody who is really passionate about education, we are working with a lawyer who will take care of the legal reforms and we have other members that are involved in other sectors and organisations, and together we are working to raise awareness on sexual assault,” states Ms Dorizzo.

“I think Seychelles is changing gradually – I have seen posters at the Baie Ste Anne hospital on reporting abuse in care homes so it shows that we are opening our eyes more and not just ignoring things. Awareness is one but having patience is another, and teachers, care givers need to learn how to be compassionate,” concludes Ms Dorizzo.

Elsie Pointe