Rape and Sexual Assault: The Criminalised Disabled Sex Offender

Abstract

The collective belief that a sex offender is dangerous, is powerful in considering sexual norms and incarceration. In this article, I tell stories of sex crimes via life-story interviews with neurodivergent men who have additional learning difficulties, who were criminalised for sexual assault or rape, and mothers. This research cannot eradicate the harm for those who are historically institutionalised, nor can it help victims of sexual assault. However, there is a need to challenge troubling micro and macro-bureaucratic processes across institutions and systems such as education, health, and criminal justice, to support disabled people and their families care-fully and ethically.