Hi Mumsnetters, this is just to say we think 'the we beleive you campaign' is great. Any women let alone 1 in 4 women being sexually abused is not good enough. We just want to add that if you have learning disabilities 9 in 10 people have experienced sexual abuse and 4 out of 10 of those have experienced 10 or more incidents!
Women with learning disabilities who have been sexually abused are even less likely to report to the police or access any kind of support. Services are hard to access because information about them is not accessible or the services themselves are not aware of how to support someone with a learning disability appropriately. Women with learning disabilities are also likely to have their evidence dismissed as being unsound.
Many women with learning disabilities are abused by partners, but keep quiet because without them there is a very real danger that their children will be removed, because ?Mum is not deemed capable of looking after her children alone?. Mums with learning disabilities who have found the courage to go it alone have ended up having their children taken away because it is considered that they will 'fail to protect' their children.
Going it alone means that it is really important that these mums are able to access support from other services, like childrens centres, mums and toddlers groups and even informal mums at the school gates gatherings. However, the sad fact is that these mums are often excluded and so withdraw which in turn means that their children miss out on the chance to make friends and develop soical skills and in the end are taken into care.
"We went on a day trip with Sure Start and nobody talked to us all day."
Somewhere near you is a mum who may struggle to join in, who has lost confidence because of years of discrimination because of her learning disability and who would really benefit from the chance to learn from friends about helpful ways to look after the child she loves.
Learning Disability Mums represents parents with learning disabilities who work with CHANGE a national organisation that campaigns for better support for parents with learning disabilities to keep their children. We are also working with Trafford Rape Crisis to support them to make their services more accessible to women with learning disabilities. It would be great to know your thoughts on this.