Intellectually disabled people should not be allowed to disappear from the system, experts have warned, as they called for adult protection law, individualised support and regular follow-ups.

Last week, a court heard the harrowing story of a 39-year-old intellectually disabled woman who spent the past nine years locked up in her bedroom with two dogs and a bucket for her needs for hours on end, performing unpaid labour.

Anna Maria Jimenez is pleading not guilty to locking up the victim, threatening her, assaulting her and causing her slight injuries. The court was told how Ms Jimenez would give her Playmobil parts to assemble, which she would then proceed to sell to the factory.

Disability studies lecturer Anne-Marie Callus (left) and Victim Support Malta director Roberta Lepre (right) spoke of protection for the vulnerable after the story emerged of a disabled woman who was locked in a room for nine years performing unpaid labour.

During the investigation, it was found that the accused had allegedly cashed the victim’s disability allowance cheques, pocketing the money herself. The victim was found unkempt, wearing clothes caked with filth.

Disability Studies lecturer Anne-Marie Callus told The Sunday Times of Malta that while she was not aware of specific cases in Malta which were similar, she has heard reports by social workers of people with an intellectual disability being maltreated within their homes.

Such people should not be allowed to disappear from the system, she continued. It was unlikely – but not impossible – for an intellectually disabled person not to be known to at least one service-provider.

If the person stopped using a service, there should be some follow up, Dr Callus said. The professionals best placed to do this were social workers – but they in turn needed to have the necessary resources to be able to keep track of clients who need to be followed up.

On the other hand, Dr Callus continued, such follow-ups should only occur where they were needed, to ensure that intellectually disabled people did not experience unnecessary intrusions into their private lives.

“It’s not an easy balance to keep and social workers often find themselves in situations where they are damned if they do, damned if they don’t. If they intervene they are accused of meddling, if they don’t and a tragedy like this one happens, people say, ‘Where are the social workers?’.

“Individualised support is the best approach as it ensures that the services that a person with intellectual disability receives are suited to their needs.”

There also needed to be adult protection legislation, Dr Callus stressed. “At the moment, if for example I know of a person who is being abused, I cannot go to the authorities to report the abuse on his behalf if the person is 18 or over. “The person has to go himself.

Social workers often find themselves in situations where they are damned if they do, damned if they don’t

“When the person has a disability this can be difficult if not impossible.”

Adult protection legislation would overcome this difficulty as it would then become possible for other people to report abuse on behalf of those who simply cannot do it for themselves.

“The situations need not be as extreme as this one – it can simply be a relative who is supposed to be taking care of the person with disability and is not giving them enough to eat or not buying them a pair of shoes when the ones they have are torn, or abusing them verbally all the time, and so on.”

Not all people with an intellectual disability were vulnerable, Dr Callus added. Vulnerability is not something which is inherent in certain people by virtue of innate characteristics (such as disability).

Vulnerability is created by the environment. One way of making intellectually disabled people less vulnerable is by enabling them to develop empowerment skills, self-advocacy and self-determination so that they can speak up for themselves and know who to turn to when they have problems.

Victim Support Malta director Roberta Lepre said situations were difficult to prevent unless the victims were somehow already in touch with an external entity or service providers.

The best possible prevention tool, she continued, would be education, to help relatives, neighbours or friends identify the potential abuse and feel morally obliged to alert the authorities if they noted anything suspicious.

The Victims of Crime Act clearly stipulates that vulnerable victims should be provided with an individual assessment to identify their specific needs.

Specialised support measures should then be in place to address such needs. “The law is now in force but I believe that the corresponding services are not yet available,” Dr Lepre said.

“Additionally, the criminal justice process should protect such victims – for instance by providing alternative ways through which they provide evidence in order to reduce further traumatisation and secondary victimisation.”

After the news of the 39-year-old victim emerged, National Commission Persons with Disability (KNPD) chairman Oliver Scicluna expressed fear there might be more such cases which go unreported.

He stressed the KNPD’s role of educating people with a disability about their rights.

“We can never prevent such instances from occurring because it is impossible to have an overall control and monitoring mechanism in place.

“But we will keep educating our members about abuse and abusive situations so that they come forward and report.”

The KNPD was “eagerly awaiting” the Adult Protection Act which, he was informed, was currently being drafted by a team of experts commissioned by the Parliamentary Secretariat of Rights of Persons with Disability.