Mate crime victimization against individuals with intellectual disability
Authors: N.K. Tharshini 
Published: December 2024

Purpose

Mate crime is a recently coined term in which a perpetrator befriends a vulnerable person to exploit them. The present study aims to investigate this phenomenon by examining mate crime victimization against individuals with intellectual disability in Sarawak, Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

Data was collected quantitatively from 180 respondents from various governmental and non-government organizations located in Kuching, Kota Samarahan, and Asajaya that provide medical care, residential care, employment opportunities, basic education, rehabilitation, and training for individuals with intellectual disability.

Findings

The results showed that majority of the respondents were females (69.4%) between 18 and 28 years old (52.8%). Additionally, most respondents were Malay (48.9%), single (94.4%), diagnosed with mild level of intellectual disability (91.67%), have been victimized by their friends (87.2%) and have known the perpetrators for over five years (68.3%). The result also indicated that a majority of females have experienced mate crime victimization, especially related to emotional abuse [(M = 16.15, SD = 8.16); t(34) = 3.09, p = 0.020] and sexual abuse [(M = 14.01, SD = 7.67); t(38) = 3.29, p = 0.040].

Research limitations/implications

While this study provides valuable insights for place-based evidence on gender differences in the prevalence of self-reported mate crime victimization, it is essential to acknowledge several limitations as well. Firstly, this study is geographically limited to participants from Sarawak (a Malaysian state on the Borneo Island) combined with the use of convenience sampling, which could restrict the generalizability of the findings. However, despite these limitations, the study highlights an important finding – that the victimization of individuals with intellectual disability is not unique to Western contexts or heavily researched regions alone. The results demonstrate that similar vulnerabilities and patterns of abuse exist in underrepresented cultural and societal settings, contributing to a growing recognition that intellectual disability, gender-based vulnerability and the risk of victimization are issues that transcend geographic boundaries. This underscores the need for more research focusing on mate crime victimization in non-Western countries, where such studies are notably scarce. Secondly, the current research is a cross-sectional study that focuses on the emotional and sexual abuse domains alone. Hence, to capture the variations of mate crime experiences among individuals with intellectual disability other domains such as financial abuse and physical abuse should be incorporated in future research. Another significant limitation of this study is its focus on individuals who are already engaged with disability support services. In reality, those who are not connected to such services may be at greater risk of mate crime victimization but remain invisible in the data due to lack of connection/engagement with support systems. This omission limits a comprehensive understanding of the full scope of mate crime victimization against individuals with intellectual disability. It is likely that individuals without access to services are more isolated, face heightened vulnerability and have reduced access to protection and support. Thus, future research should therefore explore strategies to include these underserved individuals, as they represent a crucial yet overlooked population in the study of mate crime victimization.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first research study conducted in Sarawak, Malaysia, that examined mate crime victimization against individuals with intellectual disability. It contributes to the knowledge pool by providing place-based evidence that takes into account mate crime victimization against individuals with intellectual disability in Sarawak, Malaysia, from an Asian perspective to promote the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 10 (reduced inequalities).