What does 'disability' mean?

Disability refers to any condition that causes a person to be unable to easily do or completely unable to do one or more things that most people can do.

Disabilities fall into one of nine categories: 

• Physical
• Emotional
• Medical
• Visual
• Developmental
• Cognitive
• Aural (to do with hearing)
• Environmental
• Learning 

Each disability may be a vulnerability in different situations. For instance, a person who is blind may have no other disability. Therefore, during an attack, they are as capable as anyone else in protecting themselves, but the police will have to work differently to help the victim identify the perpetrator without using visual aspects. Below is just a few ways some disabilities might be more vulnerable to sexual assault. Some people with disabilities may not be vulnerable in quite the same ways. 

• A person with a physical disability might be more easy for a perpetrator to overpower. 
• People with some disabilities rely on others to care for their everyday needs. This dependence on others can lead to vulnerability to sexual assault by those providing care. 
• Some people view others with disabilities as "idiots" or "child like." With view points like those, it is very unlikely that such people would take a report of sexual assault from a person with disabilities very seriously. 
• Some disabilities can cause isolation. In any case of isolation the individual is more likely to let dangerous individuals into their lives if they are desperate for companionship. This leaves an opening for sexual predators to enter the life of a person with disabilities. 
• Some disabilities cause a person to be unable to adequately communicate what happened to them which can lead to frustration in trying to report a sexual assault. 

• People with physical disabilities may be injured more severely during the assault for many reasons including the perpetrator being more violent towards them because they are different (the perpetrator may see the victim as disgusting or the perpetrator may be irrationally afraid of catching whatever the person has).
• A person with a disability may have difficulty getting emergency help for themselves if they can not get to a hospital or communicate effectively over the phone.
• At the hospital or with police a person with disabilities may run into issues with communication due to lack of patience on behalf of hospital or law enforcement personnel or lack of interpreters.
• A person with a disability who is isolated because of it or has been shunned by society may be afraid of asking for help.

• Starting at the emergency room, our advocates are trained to advocate for the victims needs, whether that means something as simple as listening and helping a person convey their message, or as complex as finding a pocket talker for a person with profound hearing loss.
• Crisis lines advocates receive training and information on how to use TTY and the Virginia Relay System as well as training in patient listening and not being afraid to ask someone to repeat themselves.
• RCASA has connections with disAbility Resource Center of the Rappahannock Area which allows us to refer people with disabilities to an organization that can help them in the ways we can not.
• RCASA's offices are handicap accessible
• All of RCASA's volunteers and staff are encouraged to use "people first language" and "disability etiquette." 
• RCASA advocates offer risk reduction strategy presentations to community groups that work with people with disabilities.