People with disabilities are also particularly vulnerable to exploitation. Exploitation can take many forms, including:
Sexual exploitation. For example, women with disabilities are forced into prostitution. Trafficking is becoming an enormous issue among young teens.
Financial exploitation. For example, individuals with disabilities may be paid less than other workers or have personal funds removed from their accounts without their permission. Although the practice of peonage, or “involuntary servitude,” was abolished in 1865 under the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, people with disabilities continue to be forced to work under dangerous, sometimes inhumane circumstances at little or no pay. This is often disguised as a lower wage offset by “room and board.”
Financial fraud is one of the fastest growing forms of abuse targeting seniors and adults with disabilities. According to the National Adult Protective Services Association, 1 in 20 older adults reports some form of financial mistreatment. However, it occurs much more frequently than it is reported. In fact, some studies estimate that only 1 in 44 cases of financial exploitation are reported to law enforcement officials.
There are two broad categories of financial abuse. Financial exploitation is perpetrated by someone who is known to the individual, such as a family member, caregiver, or other trusted person who uses their position of trust to gain access to the person’s financial resources. The second type of financial abuse relates to financial scams designed to take advantage of the elderly and adults with disabilities, such as home improvement and lottery schemes.
http://www.napsa-now.org/policy-advocacy/world-elder-abuse-awareness-day/
Entertainment. Being used as a source of entertainment, such as being physically assaulted by a group or being forced to engage in demeaning activities for the amusement of others.
