Study on Disability and the Right to Emotional and Sexual Life

Abstract

This study presents a group of personal stories regarding disabled people who wish to have a sexual and affective life, most of them considering the explicit consent of the partner. They are handled by their original families and their socio-sanitarian services, which take care of them, but they experience difficulties handling these “delicate matters.” Sexuality is one of the basic needs of people, but there is cultural resistance on the territory, in services, operators, and families who take care of fragile people, and does not accept this need or are not sufficiently prepared to consider it. Sexuality is a complex topic in this case; it triggers psycho-social aspects, but also medical and legal challenges which are often too complex for these people and for people who take care of them.