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 192<br />
The difficulty in designing legislati<strong>on</strong> that would provide for a balance<br />
between the need to protect vulnerable individuals from exploitati<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
the need to respect an individual’s aut<strong>on</strong>omy <strong>and</strong> capacity to engage in<br />
voluntary <strong>and</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Literature</str<strong>on</strong>g> freely chosen <str<strong>on</strong>g>Review</str<strong>on</strong>g> relati<strong>on</strong>ships Provisi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> has <strong>Appropriate</strong> been recognised <strong>and</strong> <strong>Accessible</strong> (LRC,<br />
2005). The literature Support to examines People with various an Intellectual st<strong>and</strong>ards Disability for determining<br />
who are<br />
capacity to c<strong>on</strong>sent Experiencing to sexual Crisis relati<strong>on</strong>s Pregnancyranging from a lower st<strong>and</strong>ard<br />
<strong>of</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing the sex act to a higher st<strong>and</strong>ard <strong>of</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing the<br />
sexual act <strong>and</strong> its c<strong>on</strong>sequences, such as pregnancy. However, there is<br />
no c<strong>on</strong>sensus in the literature <strong>on</strong> what level <strong>of</strong> underst<strong>and</strong>ing is required<br />
for a pers<strong>on</strong> to be able to c<strong>on</strong>sent to sexual relati<strong>on</strong>ships.<br />
6.7 Internati<strong>on</strong>al good practice in assessing <strong>and</strong> promoting informed<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sent to sexual relati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
Elements <strong>of</strong> good practice from other jurisdicti<strong>on</strong>s need to be explored in<br />
order to underst<strong>and</strong> what informed c<strong>on</strong>sent to sexual relati<strong>on</strong>s involves.<br />
• McCarthy <strong>and</strong> Thomps<strong>on</strong> (2004) proposed that the c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s<br />
which should exist for free choice include the following:<br />
- For valid c<strong>on</strong>sent to sex, women with learning disabilities<br />
must know that sex, especially when initiated by a more<br />
powerful pers<strong>on</strong>, is not required <strong>and</strong> compulsory.<br />
- People must have sufficient communicati<strong>on</strong> skills to be able<br />
to make their choice (to engage in sexual activity or not)<br />
known to the other party. This means that either verbally<br />
or through an alternative communicati<strong>on</strong> system known to<br />
both parties, to give/deny/withdraw c<strong>on</strong>sent at any stage<br />
in the activity. Silence or n<strong>on</strong>-communicati<strong>on</strong> must not be<br />
interpreted as c<strong>on</strong>sent.<br />
- There needs to be a reas<strong>on</strong>able degree <strong>of</strong> equality between<br />
the parties, so that both parties have sufficient power to<br />
make the choice to engage or not engage in sex, without<br />
fear <strong>of</strong> adverse c<strong>on</strong>sequences.<br />
• The Sexual Offences Act 2003 in Engl<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> Wales defines<br />
capacity to c<strong>on</strong>sent in terms <strong>of</strong> ability to refuse <strong>and</strong> adopts a<br />
functi<strong>on</strong>al approach where an individual needs to underst<strong>and</strong> the<br />
nature <strong>and</strong> c<strong>on</strong>sequences <strong>of</strong> the act <strong>and</strong> be able to communicate<br />
her/his choice.