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 87<br />
3.0 Capacity to c<strong>on</strong>sent to sexual relati<strong>on</strong>ships<br />
3.1 Introducti<strong>on</strong><br />
Historically in Irel<strong>and</strong>, the UK, Australia, America <strong>and</strong> other Western<br />
countries people with intellectual disabilities <strong>and</strong> mental health<br />
problems were c<strong>on</strong>sidered ‘unfit’ to reproduce <strong>and</strong> become parents,<br />
with implicati<strong>on</strong>s such as sexual relati<strong>on</strong>ships being discouraged for<br />
people residing in instituti<strong>on</strong>s (Barker, 1983; Fennell, 1996; Trent, 1994).<br />
This attitude began to change in the 1970s through the discussi<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
disability rights (Shakespeare, 2000, Rioux, 1997) <strong>and</strong> the introducti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />
the c<strong>on</strong>cept <strong>of</strong> normalisati<strong>on</strong> (Emers<strong>on</strong>, 1992; Wolfensberger, 1980 cited<br />
in BPS, 2006:105), which led to a growing empowerment <strong>of</strong> people with<br />
learning disabilities <strong>and</strong> a widening acceptance <strong>of</strong> their rights in relati<strong>on</strong><br />
to recogniti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> their sexual needs. As a result, sex educati<strong>on</strong> materials<br />
began to be written that addressed issues specific to people with<br />
intellectual disability (McCarthy <strong>and</strong> Thomps<strong>on</strong>, 1998; Cambridge, 1997).<br />
Support to People with an Intellectual Disability who are<br />
<strong>Accessible</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>Appropriate</strong> <strong>of</strong> Provisi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Review</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Literature</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
Experiencing Crisis Pregnancy<br />
Meanwhile, research has dem<strong>on</strong>strated the high incidence <strong>of</strong> sexual<br />
abuse or exploitati<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> people with intellectual disabilities <strong>and</strong> their<br />
vulnerability to such abuse because <strong>of</strong> their social <strong>and</strong>/or cognitive<br />
differences (McCarthy, 1999; Sobsey, 1994). Brown (2004) asserts<br />
that women with learning disabilities face double oppressi<strong>on</strong> at the<br />
intersecti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> gender <strong>and</strong> disability, <strong>and</strong> this renders them particularly<br />
vulnerable to sexual violence <strong>and</strong> exploitati<strong>on</strong>. Vulnerability, Brown<br />
(2004) c<strong>on</strong>tends, is usefully viewed in the c<strong>on</strong>text <strong>of</strong> a social model <strong>of</strong><br />
vulnerability. This model locates the extra risks to women with learning<br />
disability, not in their impairments per se, but in the extent to which they<br />
are placed in situati<strong>on</strong>s which expose them to risks that other women<br />
would not be exposed to, <strong>and</strong> in discriminatory resp<strong>on</strong>ses experienced by<br />
women from agencies.<br />
Assessment <strong>of</strong> capacity to enter sexual relati<strong>on</strong>ships has received<br />
increased attenti<strong>on</strong> in recent years (Murphy <strong>and</strong> Clare, 2003; Lyden, 2007;<br />
Kennedy <strong>and</strong> Niederbuhl, 2001) due to the increasing recogniti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> the<br />
rights <strong>of</strong> people with disabilities. There is general agreement that people<br />
should be enabled <strong>and</strong> encouraged to take decisi<strong>on</strong>s for themselves<br />
when possible. There has been increasing c<strong>on</strong>cern <strong>and</strong> recogniti<strong>on</strong> <strong>of</strong> the<br />
need to both empower people with intellectual disability to make their