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Sexual abuse is common among people living with intellectual disabilities. Research published from 2000-2020 illustrates increased prevalence rates of sexual violence against people with intellectual disabilities when compared with the general population. While people with intellectual disabilities experience sexual violence in many of the same ways as the general population,  they often encounter additional issues related to their disability and the environments in which they live. These issues can include increased vulnerability, questions around ability to consent to sexual activities, differential treatment before the law, social attitudes about intellectual disability and sexuality, and restricted access to suitable support and recovery services.

There are large differences between the prevalence and incidence estimates from independent sources of research as it relates to this topic. Results are often impacted by many factors such as:


 * Differences in how sexual abuse is defined, and which experiences are counted as abuse for research purposes.
 * Who is asked about the abuse: reported prevalence and incidence are lower if service managers, staff or case notes are consulted, and higher when people with intellectual disabilities are asked directly.
 * Whether abuse rates for men and women are combined or calculated separately.
 * Differences between the groups of people selected to take part in the research.

Morris (1999) reported that incidence data on sexual abuse of disabled children can be difficult to compile because:


 * Parties reporting the incident may not agree on the impairment of the disabled child.
 * Information may not be recorded consistently.
 * Some children with mild or moderate intellectual disabilities may not be registered with the services that usually record abuse incidents.

The highest rate of occurrence of abuse happens within the place of residence of the persons with intellectual disabilities. Other areas of frequency where abuse occurs were at the perpetrator's home and in other public places, such as public toilets.