Investigation of Sexual Abuse News about Individuals with Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Sexual abuse is an unwanted sexual activity which the perpetrator uses force upon, makes threats against, or takes advantage of the victim without his / her consent. This study aims to draw attention to the sexual abuse which individuals with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder are exposed to. With this aim, news published online in national, local and regional Turkish newspapers between the years of 2015-2019 related to this issue were analyzed. To reach the related media content, one of the news agencies’ archive was utilized to search for published news via keywords (“sexual abuse”, “sexual assault”, “sexual harassment”, “rape” and “intellectual”, “handicapped”, “disabled”, “autism” and “Down”). As a result, 11351 news related to those keywords were reached and the total number of retained news was 1124. In this study, document analysis was carried out using deductive content analysis to analyze the content of news related to sexual abuse of individuals with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder. Findings are discussed; suggestions for researchers, legislators, families, teachers, and practitioners are posed.

Keywords

• Intellectual disability
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Sexual abuse
• Document analysis

Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu ve Zihin Yetersizliği Olan Bireylere Yönelik Cinsel İstismar Haberlerinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Cinsel istismar, istismarı gerçekleştiren bireyin, rızası olmayan mağduru tehdit etmesi, zor kullanması ya da mağdurdan faydalanması yoluyla ortaya çıkan istenmedik cinsel eylemlerdir. Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu (OSB) ve Zihin Yetersizliği (ZY) olan bireyler yaşadıkları gelişimsel yetersizlikler nedeniyle farklı güvenlik tehditleriyle karşılaşmakta ve cinsel istismara maruz kalabilmektedirler. Bu araştırmada, Türkiye’de 2015-2019 yılları arasında yayımlanan yaygın, yerel ve bölgesel gazetelerdeki ZY ve OSB olan bireylere yönelik gerçekleştirilen cinsel istismar haberleri incelenmiş ve bu konuya dikkat çekilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Araştırmada “cinsel taciz”, “cinsel saldırı”, “cinsel istismar”, “tecavüz” anahtar kelime grubu ve “zihinsel”, “özürlü”, “engelli”, “otizm”, “Down” anahtar kelime grubunu birlikte içeren haberlere ilişkin 11351 doküman incelenmiştir. Benzer içerikli haberler birleştirilerek toplam 168 haber, elektronik ortamda dosyalanmıştır. Araştırmada OSB ve / veya ZY olan bireylere yönelik gerçekleştirilen cinsel istismar haberleri, nitel araştırma tekniklerinden doküman analizi tekniğiyle incelenmiş, verilerin analizinde tümdengelimli içerik analizi kullanılmıştır. Bulgular; haberlere ilişkin genel bilgiler, cinsel istismara uğrayan bireylere ilişkin bilgiler, cinsel istismarı geçekleştiren bireylere ilişkin bilgiler ve cinsel istismara ilişkin genel bilgiler olmak üzere dört başlık altında tartışılmıştır. Bulgular doğrultusunda yasa koyuculara, ailelere, uzmanlara, öğretmenlere, habercilere ve araştırmacılara çeşitli önerilerde bulunulmuştur.

Keywords

• Zihin yetersizliği
• Otizm spektrum bozukluğu
• Cinsel istismar
• Doküman analizi

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