Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...

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McCarthy and Thompson (2004) note that even where a person with an
intellectual disability is in a relationship with a staff member that may
be viewed as sexually exploitative by others, that person may be unhappy
when an intervention <strong>Literature</strong> <strong>Review</strong> is taken on to Provision end the of relationship. Appropriate The and Accessible reason for this,
they note, is Support that although to People the with sexual an Intellectual side of the Disability relationship who are is likely
to be exploitative Experiencing and may Crisis be experienced Pregnancy as physically painful, people
with learning disabilities often take a wider view by valuing the presence
of that person in their life and the attention they receive (2004: 232).
McCarthy and Thompson argue that a broad concern about the welfare of
people with learning disabilities needs to consider not only the damage
done to them in such relationships, but also the damage done by ending
such relationships.
3.15 Provision of supports
Brown (2004) argues that from a rights perspective, the argument
of supporting women to make their own choices, while retaining
responsibility to consult and assist, or to step in to take proxy decisions
when the woman is out of her depth is a strong one. Article 12 of the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires States
Parties to take appropriate measures to provide access by persons with
disabilities to the support they may require in exercising their legal
capacity. In particular, Article 23 1 (b) of the Convention recognises the
rights of persons with disabilities to have access to age-appropriate
information, reproductive and family-planning education and the means
necessary to enable them to exercise their rights to marry and found a
family.
In Ireland, the Law Reform Commission has emphasised the close
connection between the promotion of capacity to consent to sexual
relationships and the provision of sex education to young adults with
limited decision-making ability which is pitched at an appropriate level to
their capacity (LRC, 2005: 145).
Research has shown that people with intellectual disability often have
more limited sexual knowledge than other people (McCabe, 1999;
Murphy and O’Callaghan, 2004) and are more vulnerable to abuse than
others. Research carried out in England by Murphy and O’Callaghan
(2004) has important implications for capacity to consent to sexual