School-Based Sexual Violence Among Female Learners With Mild Intellectual Disability in South Africa

Abstract

Following qualitative research methodology, this article presents school-based sexual violence experiences of female learners with mild intellectual disability. A total of 16 learners aged 16 to 24 years participated in the study. The findings revealed that learners with intellectual disability are not immune to school-based sexual violence. Modes of behavior that occurred frequently included touching, threats, and intimidation. School practices that reinforced school-based sexual violence are identified. The findings contradict common misconceptions that people with intellectual disability do not understand what is happening to them. The study recommends that school policies for sexual violence be intensified and learners receive developmentally appropriate sex education.

Keywords

female learners with mild intellectual disability school-based sexual violence South Africa

Introduction

For many young girls, sexual violence, a continuum of nonconsensual sexual experiences (Jejeebhoy & Bott, 2003) is a reality of their school life. Reports of aggressive and intimidating behavior, unsolicited physical contact such as touching, kissing and groping, assault, sexual bullying, coercive sex and rape are all components of sexual violence applicable to sexual relationships between teachers and learners, or learners and learners (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2003). Such incidents continue to occur despite nations’ commitment to protect their children from any form of maltreatment. South Africa in particular has been adjudged to have the highest per capita rate of sexual violence in the world (Community Information, Empowerment and Transparency Africa, 2000), with some studies suggesting this problem to be widespread in schools. For example, Human Rights Watch (2001) found widespread instances of female learners experiencing sexual violence by their male peers and school personnel and consequently dropping out of or being absent from school. In addition, Jewkes (2005) noted frequent occurrences of partner violence among youths in South Africa.

Studies carried out in other countries, both developing and developed, also attest to the ubiquity of this form of violence. For instance, in Nepal, female learners have reported inappropriate touching by both male students and teachers (Gautam, 1999), while a study conducted in Ecuador revealed that adolescent girls were sexually abused in educational settings (World Bank, 2000). The media reported horrific incidents involving Indian and Pakistani schoolboys throwing acid in the faces of female learners who refused their advances and proposals of friendship or marriage (Leach, 2002), while in the Netherlands it was revealed that girls were confronted with frequent unwanted sexual behavior at school (Timmerman, 2005). Mirsky’s (2003) study in the United Kingdom, France, and India found that sexual violence is so common that it has become accepted as part of youth culture.

Considered by the former United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Anan (1999), as the most shameful violation of human rights, sexual violence may affect anyone, including learners with intellectual disability. The danger is that when it occurs among such a population their safety is even more compromised, not least because of incorrect assumptions that they do not experience the same emotions as their nondisabled counterparts (Bernard, 1999). Some believe that people with intellectual disability do not mind abuse because they do not regard it as abusive (Calderbank, 2000).

In light of these findings, the present article will focus on exposing violence among girls with intellectual disability. Using the term intellectual disability to refer to mental impairment in learners up to the age of 22, we shall present their experiences as related through their own voices. According to Watermeyer and colleagues (Watermeyer, Swartz, Lorenzo, Schneider, & Priestly, 2006), such learners do not have the intellectual skills and attributes of mainstream learners. There are varying degrees of the condition, but for this study the focus is specifically on learners classified as having a relatively mild form of intellectual disability.

Sexual Violence Among Learners With Intellectual Disability

There is evidence of sexual violence among female learners with intellectual disability in other countries around the world. For example, in Australia, people with intellectual disability were found to experience higher levels of sexual violence than the rest of the population (Carmody, 2003; Johnson, Andrew, & Topp, 1988; McCarthy & Thompson, 1996). In the Philippines, disabled girls were sold for prostitution, especially in poor families, to provide money for basic goods and thus suffered the further disadvantage of missing out on education (Groce, 1999). In Norway, a survey showed that 80% of individuals with disability reported having been sexually abused during childhood (Kvam, 2000), whereas findings of a study carried out in Canada produced similar results (Nosek, Howland, Rintala, Young, & Chanpong, 2001; Sobsey, 1997) as did research in Sweden (Witkowska & Menckel, 2005) and Europe overall (Kane, 2006). Furthermore, a study in the United States suggested that girls with disabilities faced a greater chance of being sexually violated than their male counterparts (Linn & Rousso, 2001). Reports of bus drivers abusing female learners with intellectual disability on their way to and from school were noted in another study in the United States (Helander, 2008). In the United Kingdom, the largest charity for children with learning and/or intellectual disability, Mencap, reported that annually they receive an estimated 1,400 new cases of sexual abuse against their clients.

In South Africa, a number of limited studies have highlighted an array of abuse. Nieves (2000) revealed an incident in which a 12-year-old girl with intellectual disability was sexually abused by her male peers at school, only to be raped 2 weeks later at a new school to which she had been moved. Dickman and Roux’s (2005) research also uncovered extensive abuse, with 38 of the 94 files they reviewed at a facility in the Western Cape involving cases of children below the age of 16. Although these studies were not particularly focused on gender-based violence in schools, they give an indication that such groups of learners do fall victim to sexual violence. Considering that these incidents occur in a society supposedly cognizant of gendered normative values as well as a new democratic Constitution that upholds the human rights of all citizens, the experiences of female learners with intellectual disability deserves careful study. At the same time, carrying out such research in a society in which women are still largely regarded as subordinate to male authority and sexist attitudes and behavior along with prejudice against disabled people continue to be widespread is no simple task. This study nevertheless proceeds on the premise that knowing such attitudes and behavior exist, but pretending that they do not, can only exacerbate the problem and reinforce the vulnerability of disabled learners.

Method

As participants’ personal and subjective experiences were important in this study, a qualitative approach was adopted. Babbie and Mouton (2008) maintain that such an approach permits the researcher to capture the “insider” or emic perspective, that is, reality through the eyes of the actors themselves.

Participants and Research Setting

Two special schools catering specifically to learners with mild intellectual disability were used as research sites, following written permission to conduct the study from the two Provincial Departments of Education and Social Development, school teachers, and parents. Ethical clearance was also obtained from the relevant authority. All schools admitted Black learners and were located in the Province of Gauteng.

To recruit participants, purposive sampling with elements of referral was followed. Initially, participation was exclusively open to female learners with intellectual disability; however, changes were made when some male learners indicated interest in participating. The first group of participants was identified with the help of the school-based social workers and the nurse because they interacted directly with these learners on a daily basis. As professionals assigned to handle issues of sexuality in most schools, they are often the first recipients of reports of incidents of sexual violence, so we anticipated prompt generation of participants. We also involved participants who could help in locating prospective participants known by them to have experienced unwanted sexual encounters. In total, we worked with 16 participants (5 males and 11 females) in the age range of 16 to 24 years. Five of the female participants had been raped, 3 of whom disclosed their experiences voluntarily to us during the interview, and the other 2 were referred to the study by some of the male participants. For the sake of anonymity and confidentiality, the names of the schools and participants used in this study are pseudonyms.

Data-Collection Process

As this topic is a sensitive one and participants belonged to a special population, we began with a pilot study prior to actual data collection. The idea was to test the appropriateness of the proposed research methods and entailed interviewing 8 participants (4 males and 4 females). On the basis of the findings from the pilot study, we decided to include school documents (school incident record books) and a translator for those languages in which we are not fluent.

Prior to data collection, we had two sessions with both parents and learners (separately), whereby we gave a detailed explanation of the study, including study aims and data-collection methods. We encouraged parents and learners to ask any questions relating to the research, which they did, and explained that the study was part of one of the researcher’s doctoral research. We gave participants information about the study supervisors and indicated that a copy of the research proposal had been given to the school principals. We also stated that the study was funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and that there would be no payment for participation. We emphasized that their views would help in exposing sexual violence against females at special schools and could be used to design strategies for overcoming the problem. We assured them that their real names would not be used anywhere when reporting the findings in the main doctoral thesis, conference papers, or peer-reviewed articles; only pseudonyms would be used. We asked their permission to tape-record the conversations and promised to keep the tapes in a locked place where no one, including the school personnel or parents, could access them. We sought the permission of participants to involve a translator as neither of us was fluent in all languages spoken in South Africa.

In the initial stages of the interviews, the study faced a number of challenges: First, some learners made contradictory statements or spoke in very short sentences that they were unable to explain. We did not pressure them to talk but rather reiterated their rights to withdraw from the study if they so wished and that there would be no punishment for doing so. When participants appeared emotional, we referred them for counseling services that we had organized. We also gave them a list of resources in their community to call for emotional support. There were frequent cancelations of appointments in one school due to functions that participants had not known of in advance.

Instruments

Data collection followed two methods: in-depth face-to-face interviews with each participant at school and analysis of school documents. Interviews were conducted in an open-ended manner for approximately 60 to 90 min, depending on the interviewee’s willingness to talk. During the interviews, we shared our interest in issues of sexual violence. This was important for reciprocity. The research question that guided the interviews was phrased as follows: Have you ever experienced or witnessed any behavior you regard as sexual violence here in school? Additional questions were pursued as the interview progressed. In this way, we were able to capture participants’ experiences of school-based sexual violence and their understandings/interpretations of it in their own words. Participants were also encouraged to suggest strategies for addressing the problem of sexual violence in their schools. All interviews were tape-recorded with participants’ permission. As this topic is sensitive, we also recorded gestures, and visual, verbal, and nonverbal cues. Throughout the interviews, we also recorded our reactions and potential biases.

With the permission of the school principal and the staff, we collected data from school documents provided by the school nurse and/or social worker. Recorded in the school documents were reported incidents of misconduct, including sexual violence. These enabled us to evaluate and confirm emerging issues and to learn about known incidents and the procedures followed after reporting. Interestingly, sexual incidents were written somewhat euphemistically as “misconduct” or “misbehavior.”

Data Analysis

Analysis was conducted alongside data collection to ensure the collection of focused data. Following each interview, we listened to the tape in the presence of the translator to ensure that we captured the correct information and that the words were accurately translated. The translator was also present when we transcribed the recorded interviews. As soon as the transcripts became available, we read them on a number of occasions and compared them with our field notes. This was also to ensure accurate capturing of participants’ perspectives. The following stage involved categorizing data according to the meanings extrapolated, establishing relationships between identified categories and subcategories to explain how phenomena came to be as they were. The final stage involved explicating the story about the studied phenomena.

Results

Data collected provided evidence for the claim that female learners with intellectual disability are not immune to school-based sexual violence. The types of behavior reported are presented in the table below.

In Table 1, we see that touching, threats, and intimidation were commonly reported forms of sexual violence. Of the 7 girls who reported being coerced into agreeing to have sex, 4 were also raped by male learners on school premises. As victims felt intimidated and threatened by perpetrators, none of the incidents that involved coercion into actual sexual intercourse was disclosed to school personnel, except one incident that had recently occurred. The report reached the school through a parent because the victimized learner was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease. As these forms of sexual violence were not mutually exclusive, they are discussed under four headings.

Table 1.

Forms of Sexual Violence Reported by Female Learners With Intellectual Disability

Type of sexual violence	Number of female victims
Touching	11
Kissing in a sexual way	8
Coercive sex/rape	7
Grapping and pinching	4
Sexual intimidation and threats	11
Pornography	8
Sexually explicit behavior	5
Attempted rape	3
Name calling	7
Pulling up clothes/undressing	5

Touching

This form of behavior involved incidents of being fondled on breasts, thighs, and private parts and being kissed against one’s will. Such forms of behavior made the recipients feel disrespected, useless, disgusted, and powerless. Such incidents were reported by two female learners, Olga (16) and Patricia (19). Olga, who also indicated that being touched made her feel as if she was “loose,” averred that “boys at this school always touch us between our legs,” and she further illustrated the frequency of such behavior by saying, “If you manage one day without being touched then you are lucky. But the second day, it will be a miracle if nobody has not touched you.” Patricia confirmed this: “They have never touched my hands, arms or legs, only my breasts and bums. You just feel of no value but I wonder why.” (She shakes her head.) Two male learners confirmed the females’ statements when they said:

Norman (19):

I touch them (girls) to feel good in my body (laughs and claps hands). My blood gets hot and jumps. It stimulates me and I enjoy it.

Frank (18):

It makes me good to pinch the softer parts (breasts/bums). It feels as if you are having sex.

The males’ actions appeared to be motivated by a desire to engage female learners in sexual activities. Females made their statements with sadness and negative emotions whereas male learners displayed a sense of achievement. It could be that male learners did not realize they were hurting their female peers.

Intimidation

Forms of sexual intimidation were common when females refused sexual demands and/or advances from their male counterparts or arranged boyfriends. An “arranged boyfriend” is a partner arranged by the school in consultation with the learners’ families. The practice was motivated by the belief that learners with intellectual disability might have difficulties finding partners in the community and/or they might be taken advantage of by nondisabled people in the community. In such instances, they reported being beaten, threatened with ending the relationship and being called names such as sefebe, “a slut” (in Sotho). This was explicitly revealed by a female participant, Angie, 20, who was intimidated and threatened by her ex-boyfriend following the break-up of their relationship.

After breaking up with my boyfriend last year, he tricked me to his house one day and almost raped me, but I screamed and escaped. This was my start of hell for the next like 6 months. Together with his friends they harassed me every day in school. They called me names like slut, cheap, ugly legs and big eyes. They followed me to the toilet and corridors to touch me. I became fed up and reported them to the principal. Reporting them fueled their behaviors as their humiliations worsened. They continued following me when walking home, threatened and insulted me. I became so scared that I even missed school some days, till I requested the teacher to use the school transport. This year the ex-boyfriend moved to another school and it is much better even though some of his friends continue to insult me. It feels better and quiet for me. That is why I will never have a boyfriend till 27 years when I will be ready to marry.

Any rejection was interpreted by male learners as a form of disrespect and humiliation, prompting them to resort to intimidation and threats to get females to acquiesce into accepting their sexual demands or advances. The implication was that girls were not expected to refuse male advances.

Coercive Sex or Rape

Coercive sex or rape was reported by females who were in a relationship with arranged boyfriends. Apparently, rape was a strategy to punish a girlfriend who was perceived by a male leaner as “cheeky.” Two girls, Kheaselo (17) and Janet (22), related their experiences in the following excerpts:

Khaselo (17):

I was forced to have the first sex encounter by my boyfriend even if I had said no; he asked me why I went to his house. He told me that I needed to treat him better by giving him sex. He threatened me not to say anything about it. Since then we have sex anytime he wants because I can’t say anything. If I refuse, he threatens to beat me. I am scared of him all the time but I can’t tell anyone.

Janet (22):

When my boyfriend dumped me after I refused to have sex with him, I did not know that he was making other plans to hurt me. One day I accompanied his friend to their house and the moment we entered my ex-boyfriend was waiting. I was undressed by force and raped for about 2 hr by three boys (low voice and sheds tears). I was scared to tell anyone till I got sick and was taken to hospital. Though I told my mother after like 2 months and we reported to the school, it was too late to report to the police. They dismissed my reports in front of me and the principal (trembling voice), and since then they always pass nasty remarks whenever they see me at school.

The prevalence of coercive sex was confirmed by two male learners:

Mpho (20):

Why have girlfriends if there is no sex? (Shakes head.) To me, “no sex, no friendship.” I dump and beat any girl if she refuses sex.

Emmanuel (21):

Sex with my girlfriend is not rape. Even when she says no I still must have sex. I can’t leave her go without sex. My friends will laugh at me. So I never take any No.

These statements indicate that girls are perceived by some boys as powerless individuals who give in to sex to sustain their relationship with their boyfriends. Any attempt to end the relationship is accompanied by a punishment, which is even more humiliating. Clearly, female learners are seen as objects to be owned and used whenever it suits their boyfriends. Messages received from homes that girls should respect their boyfriends cement such beliefs.

Pornography

Pornography refers to depictions of sexual activities with the intention of sexually arouse someone (Narveson, 1993). Study participants reported receiving sexual pictures on their cell phones and/or being sent pornographic magazines. Male learners used cell phone cameras to take pictures of themselves having sex with their girlfriends. Sometimes they took pictures of their own private parts or those of girls (between legs, “underneath”) when sitting in class. Two female participants narrated their recent experiences that confirmed this type of behavior:

Christine (20):

Recently a boy in my class had taken a picture of me underneath as I was sitting in class. I was not even aware of that until one of my friends told me that have been circulating that picture around. I was shocked that the pictures showed my underwear. I felt so humiliated that students were talking about the color of my knickers. I was so embarrassed that I missed school 2 days, but I was scared to report because the boy could hurt me.

Grace (17):

My boyfriend is on his mobile all the time watching bad films or texting them to me. He sends these to my phone all the time even when in class here in school. My desk mate was looking at them on my mobile one day and the teacher saw them. We missed classes the whole day and ended up in the principal’s office.

These reports were corroborated by Loti, a male learner, who said, “Some boys take pictures on their phones having sex with different girls to show off. They want to prove to the other boys that they have sex with many girls.”

The quotations in these four sections reveal how the behavior and attitudes of some male learners humiliate female learners and put them in the difficult position of feeling powerless to stop the abusive behavior and having to face punishment by school authorities. However, for male learners their behavior boosted their egos and feelings of power.

Factors That Promote Sexual Violence at Schools

From the follow-up discussion with school personnel and participants, a number of factors were identified that contribute to the perpetuation of sexual violence at schools. These include concealment of reported incidents of sexual violence and arranged relationships for learners.

Concealment

As schools were dependent on financial assistance from funders other than the government, any reported incident of sexual violence was kept under wraps for fear of defiling the name of the school. This occurred in two ways: (a) any reported incident of sexual violence by a learner was not recorded in the book of incidents or (b) it was vaguely recorded, as inappropriate behavior or misconduct, rather than being spelled out. When I followed this up with a school administrator, she said,

You see this school depends on donor funding so we have to be careful on what we can write down in books or report. If the name of the school is tarnished with cases of sexual violence, then funds will be terminated and the school will close down. Then what? Where would we take all these learners? It is better this way for now, and we can solve those small cases. In any case, sexual violence is not a big problem here.

From her words, we see the safety of female learners is clearly being compromised to protect the name of the school.

Arranged Relationships

It was also evident that at one of the schools, there was an agreement between the parents and the school to have all the girls paired with male learners, as that was viewed as a safe way of protecting girls from sexual exploitation by nondisabled men in the community. The school social worker clarified that

to the parents, intimate relations among peers in school is not sexual violence, but a way of growing up. It is a process leading to marriage, safer, and made it easier for parents to trace the girls in case they never came home. It is hard looking for them everywhere in the community.

It should be noted that not all learners viewed such arrangements positively because they thought that they exposed them to sexual exploitation by their “partners.”

Discussion and Conclusion

The experiences of learners with intellectual disability indicate that they are not immune to gender-based violence in schools. However, perpetrators tend to be male peers, in contrast to findings from a Human Rights Watch (2001) study conducted among nondisabled learners, which revealed that perpetrators were male school personnel. However, sexual violence at schools for intellectually disabled learners tends to be reinforced by a school’s tendency to ignore or conceal reports by female learners. Schools catering to learners with intellectual disability highlighted a fear of losing funds as a justification, whereas schools for nondisabled learners often consider such incidents as “mere” teasing of girls who have rejected sexual advances by their male counterparts (Anderson-Levitt, Bloch, & Soumare, 1998). Clearly, such perceptions downplay the consequences of sexual violence for learners. They become silenced for fear of revenge and being bullied by their male counterparts. They come to learn that their reports are considered insignificant and that the sexual violence is regarded as acceptable and normal behavior, and ultimately they are subordinated to men at school and in the broader society. Moreover, it becomes difficult for young women to protect themselves from unwanted sexual intercourse, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections (Jewkes & Woods, 1998).

Similar to studies conducted among nondisabled learners in other African countries, in this study we found that the use of threats and name calling was a strategy to humiliate and demean girls for refusing to accept sexual advances by male learners (with intellectual disability). For example, boys in Zimbabwe shouted at girls (Leach & Machakanje, 2000), whereas in another study carried out in Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, girls were subjected to various forms of aggressive behavior, including intimidation (Leach, Fiscian, Kadzamira, & Machakanje, 2003). Name calling and threats may be used as strategies to coerce female students into sexual activities. Threats instill a sense of fear in a person, whereas name calling could be stigmatizing and lowers self-esteem.

Cell phone pornography, a growing phenomenon among youth in South Africa, was found to be another form of gender-based violence, which hurts and destroys a person’s self-worth and ultimately leaves them powerless and with a sense of betrayal. Unfortunately, in South Africa, where almost every young person wants a cell phone of their own, such forms of violence may increase dramatically. As noted in the report prepared by the Film and Publication Board (2006), most youths who have cell phones have already viewed pornographic images, some of which contain distressing and violent content. Lifestyle magazine (Lifestyle News, 2008) reported that girls in Mpumalanga Province were caught in class watching pornography on their phones, and it was later discovered later that almost all the students had pornographic films on their mobile phones.

The present study relied entirely on the verbal accounts of learners with intellectual disability, which suggests their capability to clearly articulate their own experiences and identify sexually violent behavior. It was also clear that such behavior negatively affects them. The claims that people with intellectual disability have no feelings, do not understand what is happening to them (Bernard, 1999; Calderbank, 2000), are promiscuous, and have high sex drives (Wilde, 1997) are not substantiated by this study. Such misconceptions are paternalistic attempts to position these students as subordinates, and they perpetuate their vulnerability to sexual violence. Individuals with intellectual disability are social beings, who can clearly construct their own social reality. Considering that sexual violence occurs even among the weakest members of society, schools should intensify measures for combating it, formulating clear policies and programs on sexual violence. Such policies should articulate the reporting procedures and actions to be taken when such behavior has been reported or is suspected. Developmentally appropriate sex education programs should also be put in place to address issues of relationships and human rights as a way to encourage mutual respect among students and combat sexist and exploitative behavior at school. Learners should also be empowered with self-protection skills and information on acceptable forms of sexual behaviors for young adults with disabilities. Care and support for victimized learners should be put in place as that will encourage female learners to disclose their experiences of sexual violence and receive supportive responses.

Footnotes

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The financial support of the National Research Foundation in South Africa is hereby acknowledged (Grant No. TTK200705070000708).

Bios

Tlakale Nareadi Phasha, PhD, is a professor of inclusive education in the School of Education at the University of South Africa. She is currently leading a research study on care and support for sexually abused individuals in South Africa. Her work appears in local and internationally accredited journals.

Doris Nyokangi is a doctoral student in the School of Education at the University of South Africa. She obtained her master’s degree in education, gender, and international development from the University of London, the United Kingdom.

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