Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...
Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...
Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...
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PAGE 126<br />
3.17 Key findings<br />
The key findings from the review <strong>of</strong> literature in the area <strong>of</strong> capacity to<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sent to sexual relati<strong>on</strong>ships are presented below:<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>Literature</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Review</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong> Provisi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Appropriate</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Accessible</strong><br />
Support to People with an Intellectual Disability who are<br />
Capacity Experiencing to c<strong>on</strong>sent Crisis to sexual Pregnancy relati<strong>on</strong>ships<br />
• A finding that a pers<strong>on</strong> lacks capacity results in a restricti<strong>on</strong> or<br />
removal <strong>of</strong> fundamental human rights <strong>and</strong> therefore the issues <strong>of</strong><br />
capacity <strong>and</strong> rights are inextricably linked (LRC, 2005).<br />
• There has been far less c<strong>on</strong>siderati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> capacity in the c<strong>on</strong>text <strong>of</strong><br />
c<strong>on</strong>senting to sexual relati<strong>on</strong>ships (Murphy, 2003).<br />
• The difficulty in designing legislati<strong>on</strong> that would provide for a<br />
balance between the need to protect vulnerable individuals from<br />
exploitati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> the need to respect an individual’s aut<strong>on</strong>omy <strong>and</strong><br />
capacity to engage in voluntary <strong>and</strong> freely chosen relati<strong>on</strong>ships<br />
has been recognised (LRC, 2005).<br />
• In relati<strong>on</strong> to sexual violence <strong>and</strong> exploitati<strong>on</strong> research<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sistently shows that women with learning disabilities are at<br />
risk from abuse, predominantly by men within their networks,<br />
including other service users, staff, family members, neighbours<br />
<strong>and</strong> friends <strong>of</strong> the family.<br />
• Definiti<strong>on</strong>s <strong>of</strong> abuse highlight ability to c<strong>on</strong>sent as well as<br />
potential inequalities <strong>of</strong> power between the ‘victim’ <strong>and</strong> the<br />
accused, in particular there may exist ‘barriers’ to c<strong>on</strong>sent within<br />
certain relati<strong>on</strong>ships (Brown <strong>and</strong> Turk, 1992).<br />
• It has been argued that a model <strong>of</strong> capacity should both maximise<br />
the woman’s involvement in decisi<strong>on</strong>-making <strong>and</strong>, when it comes<br />
to serious abuses, help her to seek refuge, justice <strong>and</strong> redress<br />
(Brown, 2004).<br />
• Deciding to enter into a sexual relati<strong>on</strong>ship with another<br />
individual is a pers<strong>on</strong>al decisi<strong>on</strong> which does not generally require