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Sexual assault against members of the deaf community is approximately 4 times higher than it is for the general population.  (Johnson, 1994)

The Rape Crisis Center has begun educating the general public about the prevalence of sexual violence in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community. It is also our goal to educate service providers as to how they can more effectively serve this community in a culturally sensitive manner.

Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

• Deaf and Hard of Hearing children appear to be abused at rates significantly higher than hearing children, and that this abuse often happens in homes, buses or residential school settings.
• Deaf children are more vulnerable than hearing children to neglect and emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
• Many students have been abused at schools for the deaf around the globe, resulting in several lawsuits. Deaf students are especially vulnerable to being sexually abused by either older deaf children or school staff. These children may not be able to talk or their parents may not be able to communicate with them in sign language. 
• In certain cases the child may not have the language to be able to communicate what happened.