Literature Review on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible ...

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• There needs to be a reasonable degree of equality between the
parties, so that both parties have sufficient power to make the
choice to engage or not engage in sex, without fear of adverse
consequences.
McCarthy and Thompson (2004) consider other dimensions relevant to an
understanding of sex, including:
• Having some knowledge about society’s laws and norms about
sex, including those related to privacy.
<strong>Literature</strong> <strong>Review</strong> on Provision of Appropriate and Accessible
Support to People with an Intellectual Disability who are
Experiencing Crisis Pregnancy
• When assessing a person’s ability to consent, it is important
to distinguish between adults with learning disabilities’ sexual
experience and their understanding of that experience; for
example, people who are sexually abused may come to consider
this as a normal part of their life.
• Not knowing what is legal and illegal leaves people very
vulnerable to exploitation, as they can easily be deceived into
thinking that certain acts are normally accepted, when in
fact most society regards them as contravening important
boundaries.
• People with learning disabilities also need to know what is
considered usual and unusual sexual behaviour.
In relation to the definition of capacity to consent to sexual intercourse,
or activities short of intercourse, at minimum it has been suggested
that a level of understanding of the sexual act is required (Evans and
Rodgers, 2000). The question of whether the law should impose a
greater level of understanding, for example, that of understanding the
possible consequences, such as pregnancy or the risk of contracting
sexually transmitted diseases, has been examined. The former, the
simple fact of understanding the sex act, is a lower standard, and would
enable some individuals to consent to sex. A higher standard, that of
understanding the sexual act and its consequences, would restrict the
ability of many intellectually disabled adults to consent but would provide