Shocking story. Protecting the vunerable (Herald)
Protecting the vulnerable
It is deeply disturbing that a woman with learning disabilities has been the victim of 12 incidents of rape or sexual assault, but her exploitation has been compounded by the fact that her alleged attackers have never been prosecuted, despite reports being made to the police and the procurator fiscal. Even more alarming is that, according to the Mental Welfare Commission (MWC), which safeguards the rights of people with mental illness or disability, the circumstances which allowed her to be repeatedly assaulted without her attackers being brought to justice are "common throughout Scotland".
Miss A, who has a mental age of eight, has been in care since childhood, often inappropriately. As a young adult she was placed in an old people’s home and the one bright spot in that part of her life was taking part in the Special Olympics. Moving into a sheltered flat in the community, supported by day-care placements, greatly improved her quality of life, but it also brought a danger of exploitation. She reported assaults to care staff, who involved the police, but despite the fact that at least four were committed by the same man, there was never a prosecution, mainly because it was decided that Miss A would not be capable of giving evidence in court.
The disastrous effect of this was that the alleged attackers were free to repeat the offences. New measures brought in by the Vulnerable Witnesses Protection Act 2004 should make it easier for such witnesses to give evidence, but will require commitment from all involved in the legal process.
Although Miss A was moved to more sheltered accommodation to give her greater protection, there was no written record of her particular vulnerabilities and the report reveals a failure of communication between the different agencies, despite the health board and social work department involved having a multi-agency protocol for protecting vulnerable adults. It clearly did not work.
The MWC’s report into Miss A’s case is published just as measures to make it easier for children and vulnerable adults to give evidence in court come into effect, and after a review of the measures to protect adults at risk of abuse or exploitation found that Scotland’s mechanisms of support, training and inter-agency co-operation lead the way in the UK in reducing the risk faced by vulnerable groups. The failures of the system in Miss A’s case must puncture any complacency.
The MWC is right to include all the agencies, from the Crown Office to the police, social work departments and health boards, in its recommendations. The wide range of its criticism is evidence of the "institutional discrimination" against disabled people, which results in people such as Miss A having her quality of life severely reduced, because she is no longer able to go out on her own, while those accused of abusing her enjoy unlimited freedom. That must change.
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