Sexuality and disability
It is a widespread concern, however, that many people with disabilities do not receive comprehensive sex education, which could otherwise positively contribute to their sexual lives.
[3][4] For physical disabilities that change a person's sexual functioning, such as spinal cord injury, there are methods that assist where needed.
A New York disabled dating service manager explains, "Sexuality, travel, mobility, pain: Everything takes on a different dimension.
The mechanics of sex may be daunting, and communication, experimentation, medication and manual devices have been cited as important factors for sexual activity where disability is involved.
Other supportive devices include manual stimulation pumps, for erection promotion and maintenance, and "sex furniture", whereby rail or clamp enhancements, or specialised designs facilitate sexual activity.
Since then, I've started to feel less shame about my unresponsive body ... My brain can't concentrate on as many things anymore, so I have to focus more on every little twinge and the lightest of touches.
Growing up is something that we're all having to do.Some people with a spinal cord injury are able to "transfer their orgasm" using sexual energy to any part of the body that has sensation.
[16] If a person is able to use sexual energy correctly then they would be able to experience an orgasm in any part of the body that is capable of feeling sensation.
He writes, "Women who had felt profound shame about their bodies reported significant gains in their self-confidence after discovering devotees.
He created a traveling museum exhibit called "Visiting Hours" that showed the intersectionality of cystic fibrosis and sadism and masochism.
[22] In the exhibit, "Visiting Hours",[23] museumgoers would experience an environment that was a combination of a children's residential hospital and a BDSM torture chamber.
The purpose of this exhibit was to portray Flanagan's pain through a pleasurable lens showing that BDSM could offer some sexual healing.
[25] In February 2013, it was reported that citizens with disabilities in the Netherlands were eligible for a government-funded scheme that provided funds to cover up to 12 occasions of sexual service per year.
It needs to be brought out into the open in a managed and constructive way.In early 2013, former brothel owner Becky Adams spoke with the media about her intention to open a non-profit brothel exclusively for people with disabilities in the UK, which, if launched in 2014, will be the nation's first legal initiative of this nature.
If she is approved for a permit, Adams plans to open a two-room service in Milton Keynes, near London, that will be staffed by sex workers and assistants.
In April 2013, the service was receiving over 500 enquiries a week from men, women and couples, and was struggling to cope with the demand.
[31] In 2012, the topic was highlighted in a fictional film based on the real life experience of writer Mark O'Brien.
[32][33] A survey conducted by the Disability Now magazine in 2005 found that 19% of female participants would see trained sex workers, compared with 63% of the male respondents.
[39] The inaccessibility of public spaces (whether it be stairs, an absence of menus written in braille, or no ASL interpreters) could make it difficult for an individual with disabilities to go out.
"[5] In a 2012 Sydney Morning Herald, the mother of a man with cerebral palsy explained, "It's hard being a parent and this [sexuality] comes up.
L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999), the Supreme Court of the United States held that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals with mental disabilities have the right to live in the community rather than in institutions if, in the words of the opinion of the Court, "the State's treatment professionals have determined that community placement is appropriate, the transfer from institutional care to a less restrictive setting is not opposed by the affected individual, and the placement can be reasonably accommodated, taking into account the resources available to the State and the needs of others with mental disabilities.
[46] As a result of the study, almost all individuals expressed a desire to be able to talk openly about their relationships and spend more time away from the family.
[47] People with disabilities are more vulnerable to sexual assault than the general public, being targeted due to the physical or mental impairments that they have.
The American Journal of Preventive Medicine has published results of a survey that found that males with disabilities are 4 times more likely to be sexually abused.
The numbers for sexual abuse are so high because the perpetrators are well known to the individual, such as a parent, uncle, aunt, cousin, friend, caretaker or sibling.
Most programs focus on "stranger danger", which is not effective because most sexual abuse assaults come from the individual's inner circle.
[50] The subject of the Scarlet Road documentary, Rachel Wotton, also co-founded and helps run Touching Base, an organization based in New South Wales, Australia that provides information, education and support for clients with disabilities, sex workers and Disability Service Providers.
[51][37] In March 2014, former Australian High Court judge Michael Kirby became a patron of the organization, joining four other inaugural patrons: Eva Cox, Professor Basil Donovan, Associate Professor Helen Meekosha, and NSW Local Government elder statesman Peter Woods.
Following his appointment, Kirby stated: "If you deny sexual expression to human beings, cut them off from that aspect of their personalities and of their happiness, then you end up with a lot of very frustrated and very unhappy people", and he praised Touching Base for recognising that people with disabilities need "to have opportunities for sexual expression".
The TLC Trust was founded in 2000 at a Sexual Freedom Coalition Conference and the website was initially run by James Palmer, a man with disabilities.
