Sexual abuse among the deaf community is not uncommon. Berke (2000) states, "A 1989 study showed deaf children were five times as likely to be abused as hearing children." Recent studies show deaf children twenty percent more likely to be abused than hearing children. It has also been proven ten percent of all abused deaf children were abused sexually. Some therapist believe communication problems make deaf children more susceptible to sexual abuse. Communication barriers may cause a deaf child who cannot communicate with others easily to have poor emotional security. About ninety percent of deaf children are raised by hearing parents, making communication in their families more difficult. Also, the fear a hearing parent might have raising a deaf child can negatively affect the child-parent relationship (Elder, 1998 & Harrison, 2004).
Elder (1998) also believes children who are not getting their emotional needs filled at home can tend to be more vulnerable to someone trying to take advantage of them. The child might feel the person is trying to become .
2.
close to them, which is a feeling they may be completely ignorant to. Personal closeness to another individual may cause the deaf individual to .
feel more special even though they are being wronged. .
Lack of knowledge about sexuality is also caused by communication barriers. According to Scanlan, MD (Elder, 1998), deaf children have less ways of learning about sexuality than hearing children. They must rely mainly on the information offered to them by teachers and family. Therefore, if no one ever takes the time to educate a deaf child in sexuality, they could remain completely ignorant. Although parents and teachers know general ASL, some may not know the proper signs for communicating with a deaf individual on sexuality. Scanlan says this makes deaf children have a wrong understanding on the right and wrong ways they should be touched (Elder, 1998).
