Mate crime victimization against individuals with intellectual disability

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 ¼ 16.15, SD ¼ 8.16); t(34) ¼ 3.09, p ¼ 0.020] and sexual abuse [(M ¼ 14.01, SD ¼ 7.67); t(38) ¼ 3.29, p ¼ 0.040].