Disability, the Stigma of Asexuality and Sexual Health: A Sexual Rights Perspective
Main Article Content
Keywords
disability, stigma of asexuality, sexual rights
Abstract
This article discusses the stigma of asexuality generally attributed to persons with disabilities. It examines how this stigma posses a barrier to attainment of sexual health. It argues that health programming must treat persons with disabilities as sexual subjects who have sexual rights in order to advance their sexual health.
References
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Beijing Platform for Action. (1995). UN Doc. A/CONF. 177/20/Add. 1 (1995)
Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927).
Carabine, J. (2004). Sexualities, personal lives and social policy. In J. Carabine (Ed.), Sexualities, personal lives and social policy (pp. 2-45). Bristol, England: The Policy Press.
Cole, P. (2007). The body politic: Theorising disability and impairment. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 24, 169-176.
Danes provide prostitutes for the disabled. (n.d.) Ananova. Retrieved from http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1537366.html
DeLameter, J. D., & Hyde, J. S. (1998). Essentialism vs. social constructionism in the study of human sexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 35(1), 10-18.
Diedrich, L. (2005). Introduction: Genealogies of disability. Cultural Studies, 19, 649-666.
Eager, P. W. (2004). From population control to reproductive rights: Understanding normative change in global population policy (1965–1994). Global Society, 18, 145-173.
Evans, A., & Rodgers, M. E. (2000). Protection for whom? The right to a sexual or intimate relationship. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 4, 237-245.
Federation of Disability Organisations of Malawi (FEDOMA). (n.d.). Effective HIV/AIDS and reproductive health information for persons with disabilities: Case studies. Retrieved from http://www.fedoma.org/files/Final%20Case%20studies%20for%20CIDA%20Report.doc
Horn, J. (2006). Re-righting the body. Feminist Africa, 6, 7-19.
Ilkkaracan, P., & Jolly, S. (2007). Gender and sexuality: Overview report. Brighton, England: Bridge.
Jones, M., & Basser Marks, L. A. (1998). Law and social construction of disability. In M. Jones & L. A. Basser Marks (Eds.), Disability, divers-ability and legal change (pp. 3-24). The Hague, Netherlands: Kluwer Law.
Kaplan, D. (n.d.). The definition of disability. Retrieved from http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/demographics-identity/dkaplanpaper.htm
Klugman, B. (2000). Sexual rights in Southern Africa: A Beijing discourse or a strategic necessity? Health and Human Rights, 4, 144-173.
Kvam, M. H., & Braathen, S. H. (2006). SINTEF report: Violence and abuse against women with disabilities in Malawi. Blindern, Oslo, Norway: SINTEF (The Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research) Health Research.
Loeb, M. E., & Eide, A. H. (Eds.). (2004). SINTEF report: Living conditions among people with activity limitations in Malawi: A national representative study. Trondheim, Norway: SINTEF Health Research.
Long, S. (n.d.). Anatomy of a backlash: Sexuality and the ‘cultural’ war on human rights. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from http://hrw.org/wr2k5/anatomy/1.htm
Malawi Human Rights Commission. (2006). Cultural practices and their impact on the enjoyment of human rights, particularly the rights of women and children in Malawi. Retrieved from http://www.malawihumanrightscommission.org/docs/cultural_practices_report.pdf
Miller, A. (2000). Sexual but not reproductive: Exploring the junction and disjunction of sexual and reproductive rights. Health and Human Rights, 4, 68-109.
Motangolingoane-Khau, M. (2006). Sexuality in silenced spaces–disability and old age. Understanding Human Sexuality Seminar Series. Lagos, Nigeria: Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre.
Munthali, A., Mvula, P., & Ali, S. (2004). Effective HIV/AIDS and reproductive health information to people with disabilities. Zomba, Malawi: University of Malawi Centre for Social Research.
Naidu, E., Haffejee, S., Vetten, L., & Hargreaves, S. (2005). On the margins: Violence against women with disabilities. Retrieved from the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation website: http://www.iiav.nl/epublications/2005/On_the_Margins.pdf
National Human Rights Commission (India). (2005). Disability manual. Retrieved from http://nhrc.nic.in/Publications/Disability/00%20NHRC%20Disability%20Manual%202005.html
Ngwena, C. (2006). Deconstructing the definition of ‘disability’ under the Employment Equity Act: Social deconstruction. South African Journal of Human Rights, 22, 613-646.
Petchesky, R. P. (2006). On the unstable marriage of reproductive and sexual rights: A case for a trial separation. Conscience. Retrieved from http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/print.asp
Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women, September 1995. (1995). UN Doc. A/CONF.177/20.
Potgieter, C., & Khan, G. (2005). Sexual self-esteem and body image of South African spinal cord injured adolescents. Sexuality and Disability, 23, 1-20.
Prince, M. J. (2004). Review: Disability, disability studies and citizenship: Moving up or off the sociological agenda? Canadian Journal of Sociology, 29, 459-468.
Quinn, G. & Degener, T. (2002). Human rights and disability: The current use and future potential of United Nations human rights instruments in the context of disability. New York: United Nations. Retrieved May 26, 2007, from http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu6/2/disability.doc
Reynolds, D. (2007) Disability and BDSM: Bob Flanagan and the case for sexual rights. Sexual Research and Social Policy 4(1) 40-52.
Rioux, M. H. (1994a). Introduction. In M. H. Rioux & M. Bach (Eds.), Disability is not measles: New research paradigms in disability (pp. 1-7). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: L’Institut Roeher Institute.
Rioux, M.H. (1994b). Towards equality of well-being: Overcoming the social and legal construction of inequality. In M.H. Rioux & M. Bach (Eds.), Disability is not measles: New research paradigms in disability (pp. 67-108). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: L’Institut Roeher Institute.
Rye, B. J. & Meaney, G. J. (2007). The pursuit of sexual pleasure. Sexuality and Culture, 11(1), 28-51.
SAFOD (Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled). (n.d.). Programmes. Retrieved from the SAFOD website: http://safod.org/Programmes/Programmes.htm
Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities. (n.d.). The Africa campaign on disability and HIV & AIDS. Retrieved from http://www.cbm.org/en/general/downloads/27115/Africa_Campaign_Booklet.doc
Shakespeare, T. (1996). Disability, identity and difference. In C. Barnes & G. Mercer (Eds.), Exploring the divide: Illness and disability (2nd ed.). Retrieved from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies/archiveuk/Shakespeare/Chap6.pdf
Shakespeare, T. (2000). Disabled sexuality: Toward rights and recognition. Sexuality and Disability, 18, 159-166.
Shakespeare, T., Gillespie-Sells, K., & Davies, D. (1996). The sexual politics of disability: Untold desires. London: Cassell.
Shapiro, L. (2002). Incorporating sexual surrogacy into the Ontario direct funding program. Disability Studies Quarterly, 22, 78-87.
Shildrick, M. (2004). Silencing Sexuality: The regulation of the disabled body. In J. Carabine (Ed.), Sexualities, personal lives and social policy (pp. 124-155). Bristol, England: The Policy Press.
Shildrick, M. (2007). Contested pleasures: The sociopolitical economy of disability and sexuality. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 4(1), 53-66.
Shuttleworth, R. P. (2003). The case for a focus on sexual access in a critical approach to disability and sexuality research. Paper presented at the 1st Annual Disability Studies Association Conference, Lancaster, England.
Shuttleworth, R. P. (2007a). Disability and sexuality: Toward a constructionist focus on access and the inclusion of disabled people on the sexual rights movement. In N. Teunis & G. Herdt (Eds.), Sexual inequalities and social justice (pp. 174-207). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Shuttleworth, R. P. (2007b). Introduction to special issue: Critical research and policy debates in disability and sexuality studies. Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 4(1), 1-14.
Shuttleworth, R. P. (n.d.). Disability and sexuality: From medical model to sexual rights. Retrieved from the Disability NOW website: http://www.disabled.gr/lib/?p=7707
Shuttleworth, R. P., & Mona, L. (2002). Introduction to the symposium: Toward a focus on sexual access for disability studies. Disability Studies Quarterly, 22(4), 2-9.
Smart, J. F., & Smart, D. W. (2006). Models of disability: Implications for the counseling profession. Journal of Counseling & Development, 84, 29-40.
Tepper, M. S. (2000). Sexuality and disability: The missing discourse of pleasure. Sexuality and Disability, 18, 283-290.
Tepper, M. S. (2006). Facilitated sex: The next frontier in sexuality? The Sexual Health Network. Retrieved from http://www.sexualhealth.com/article.php?Action=read&article_id=8&channel=3&topic=71
Terzi, L. (2004). The social model of disability: A philosophical critique. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 24, 141-157.
Tiefer, L. (1994). The Medicalisation of impotence: Normalizing phallocentrism. Gender and Society, 8, 363-377.
Udwadia, F. E. (2000). Man and medicine: A history. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press.
Wade, H. A. (2002). Discrimination, sexuality and people with significant disabilities: Issues of access and the right to sexual expression in the United States. Disability Studies Quarterly, 22(4), 9-30.
Weeks, J. (1986). Sexuality. London: Routledge.
Wentzell, E. (2006). Bad bedfellows: Disability sex rights and Viagra. Bulletin of Science Technology Society, 26, 370-377.
Wilkerson, A. (2002). Disability, sex radicalism, and political agency. NWSA Journal, 14(3) 33-57.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2004). Progress in reproductive health research, (No. 67). Retrieved from http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/hrp/progress/67.pdf
Yoshida, K.K., Li, A., & Odette, F. (1999).Cross-cultural views of disability and sexuality: Experiences of a group of ethno-racial women with physical disabilities. Sexuality and Disability, 17(4) 321-337.
Beijing Platform for Action. (1995). UN Doc. A/CONF. 177/20/Add. 1 (1995)
Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927).
Carabine, J. (2004). Sexualities, personal lives and social policy. In J. Carabine (Ed.), Sexualities, personal lives and social policy (pp. 2-45). Bristol, England: The Policy Press.
Cole, P. (2007). The body politic: Theorising disability and impairment. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 24, 169-176.
Danes provide prostitutes for the disabled. (n.d.) Ananova. Retrieved from http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1537366.html
DeLameter, J. D., & Hyde, J. S. (1998). Essentialism vs. social constructionism in the study of human sexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 35(1), 10-18.
Diedrich, L. (2005). Introduction: Genealogies of disability. Cultural Studies, 19, 649-666.
Eager, P. W. (2004). From population control to reproductive rights: Understanding normative change in global population policy (1965–1994). Global Society, 18, 145-173.
Evans, A., & Rodgers, M. E. (2000). Protection for whom? The right to a sexual or intimate relationship. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, 4, 237-245.
Federation of Disability Organisations of Malawi (FEDOMA). (n.d.). Effective HIV/AIDS and reproductive health information for persons with disabilities: Case studies. Retrieved from http://www.fedoma.org/files/Final%20Case%20studies%20for%20CIDA%20Report.doc
Horn, J. (2006). Re-righting the body. Feminist Africa, 6, 7-19.
Ilkkaracan, P., & Jolly, S. (2007). Gender and sexuality: Overview report. Brighton, England: Bridge.
Jones, M., & Basser Marks, L. A. (1998). Law and social construction of disability. In M. Jones & L. A. Basser Marks (Eds.), Disability, divers-ability and legal change (pp. 3-24). The Hague, Netherlands: Kluwer Law.
Kaplan, D. (n.d.). The definition of disability. Retrieved from http://www.accessiblesociety.org/topics/demographics-identity/dkaplanpaper.htm
Klugman, B. (2000). Sexual rights in Southern Africa: A Beijing discourse or a strategic necessity? Health and Human Rights, 4, 144-173.
Kvam, M. H., & Braathen, S. H. (2006). SINTEF report: Violence and abuse against women with disabilities in Malawi. Blindern, Oslo, Norway: SINTEF (The Foundation for Scientific and Industrial Research) Health Research.
Loeb, M. E., & Eide, A. H. (Eds.). (2004). SINTEF report: Living conditions among people with activity limitations in Malawi: A national representative study. Trondheim, Norway: SINTEF Health Research.
Long, S. (n.d.). Anatomy of a backlash: Sexuality and the ‘cultural’ war on human rights. Human Rights Watch. Retrieved from http://hrw.org/wr2k5/anatomy/1.htm
Malawi Human Rights Commission. (2006). Cultural practices and their impact on the enjoyment of human rights, particularly the rights of women and children in Malawi. Retrieved from http://www.malawihumanrightscommission.org/docs/cultural_practices_report.pdf
Miller, A. (2000). Sexual but not reproductive: Exploring the junction and disjunction of sexual and reproductive rights. Health and Human Rights, 4, 68-109.
Motangolingoane-Khau, M. (2006). Sexuality in silenced spaces–disability and old age. Understanding Human Sexuality Seminar Series. Lagos, Nigeria: Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre.
Munthali, A., Mvula, P., & Ali, S. (2004). Effective HIV/AIDS and reproductive health information to people with disabilities. Zomba, Malawi: University of Malawi Centre for Social Research.
Naidu, E., Haffejee, S., Vetten, L., & Hargreaves, S. (2005). On the margins: Violence against women with disabilities. Retrieved from the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation website: http://www.iiav.nl/epublications/2005/On_the_Margins.pdf
National Human Rights Commission (India). (2005). Disability manual. Retrieved from http://nhrc.nic.in/Publications/Disability/00%20NHRC%20Disability%20Manual%202005.html
Ngwena, C. (2006). Deconstructing the definition of ‘disability’ under the Employment Equity Act: Social deconstruction. South African Journal of Human Rights, 22, 613-646.
Petchesky, R. P. (2006). On the unstable marriage of reproductive and sexual rights: A case for a trial separation. Conscience. Retrieved from http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/print.asp
Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women, September 1995. (1995). UN Doc. A/CONF.177/20.
Potgieter, C., & Khan, G. (2005). Sexual self-esteem and body image of South African spinal cord injured adolescents. Sexuality and Disability, 23, 1-20.
Prince, M. J. (2004). Review: Disability, disability studies and citizenship: Moving up or off the sociological agenda? Canadian Journal of Sociology, 29, 459-468.
Quinn, G. & Degener, T. (2002). Human rights and disability: The current use and future potential of United Nations human rights instruments in the context of disability. New York: United Nations. Retrieved May 26, 2007, from http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu6/2/disability.doc
Reynolds, D. (2007) Disability and BDSM: Bob Flanagan and the case for sexual rights. Sexual Research and Social Policy 4(1) 40-52.
Rioux, M. H. (1994a). Introduction. In M. H. Rioux & M. Bach (Eds.), Disability is not measles: New research paradigms in disability (pp. 1-7). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: L’Institut Roeher Institute.
Rioux, M.H. (1994b). Towards equality of well-being: Overcoming the social and legal construction of inequality. In M.H. Rioux & M. Bach (Eds.), Disability is not measles: New research paradigms in disability (pp. 67-108). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: L’Institut Roeher Institute.
Rye, B. J. & Meaney, G. J. (2007). The pursuit of sexual pleasure. Sexuality and Culture, 11(1), 28-51.
SAFOD (Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled). (n.d.). Programmes. Retrieved from the SAFOD website: http://safod.org/Programmes/Programmes.htm
Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities. (n.d.). The Africa campaign on disability and HIV & AIDS. Retrieved from http://www.cbm.org/en/general/downloads/27115/Africa_Campaign_Booklet.doc
Shakespeare, T. (1996). Disability, identity and difference. In C. Barnes & G. Mercer (Eds.), Exploring the divide: Illness and disability (2nd ed.). Retrieved from http://www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies/archiveuk/Shakespeare/Chap6.pdf
Shakespeare, T. (2000). Disabled sexuality: Toward rights and recognition. Sexuality and Disability, 18, 159-166.
Shakespeare, T., Gillespie-Sells, K., & Davies, D. (1996). The sexual politics of disability: Untold desires. London: Cassell.
Shapiro, L. (2002). Incorporating sexual surrogacy into the Ontario direct funding program. Disability Studies Quarterly, 22, 78-87.
Shildrick, M. (2004). Silencing Sexuality: The regulation of the disabled body. In J. Carabine (Ed.), Sexualities, personal lives and social policy (pp. 124-155). Bristol, England: The Policy Press.
Shildrick, M. (2007). Contested pleasures: The sociopolitical economy of disability and sexuality. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 4(1), 53-66.
Shuttleworth, R. P. (2003). The case for a focus on sexual access in a critical approach to disability and sexuality research. Paper presented at the 1st Annual Disability Studies Association Conference, Lancaster, England.
Shuttleworth, R. P. (2007a). Disability and sexuality: Toward a constructionist focus on access and the inclusion of disabled people on the sexual rights movement. In N. Teunis & G. Herdt (Eds.), Sexual inequalities and social justice (pp. 174-207). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Shuttleworth, R. P. (2007b). Introduction to special issue: Critical research and policy debates in disability and sexuality studies. Sexuality Research & Social Policy, 4(1), 1-14.
Shuttleworth, R. P. (n.d.). Disability and sexuality: From medical model to sexual rights. Retrieved from the Disability NOW website: http://www.disabled.gr/lib/?p=7707
Shuttleworth, R. P., & Mona, L. (2002). Introduction to the symposium: Toward a focus on sexual access for disability studies. Disability Studies Quarterly, 22(4), 2-9.
Smart, J. F., & Smart, D. W. (2006). Models of disability: Implications for the counseling profession. Journal of Counseling & Development, 84, 29-40.
Tepper, M. S. (2000). Sexuality and disability: The missing discourse of pleasure. Sexuality and Disability, 18, 283-290.
Tepper, M. S. (2006). Facilitated sex: The next frontier in sexuality? The Sexual Health Network. Retrieved from http://www.sexualhealth.com/article.php?Action=read&article_id=8&channel=3&topic=71
Terzi, L. (2004). The social model of disability: A philosophical critique. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 24, 141-157.
Tiefer, L. (1994). The Medicalisation of impotence: Normalizing phallocentrism. Gender and Society, 8, 363-377.
Udwadia, F. E. (2000). Man and medicine: A history. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press.
Wade, H. A. (2002). Discrimination, sexuality and people with significant disabilities: Issues of access and the right to sexual expression in the United States. Disability Studies Quarterly, 22(4), 9-30.
Weeks, J. (1986). Sexuality. London: Routledge.
Wentzell, E. (2006). Bad bedfellows: Disability sex rights and Viagra. Bulletin of Science Technology Society, 26, 370-377.
Wilkerson, A. (2002). Disability, sex radicalism, and political agency. NWSA Journal, 14(3) 33-57.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2004). Progress in reproductive health research, (No. 67). Retrieved from http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/hrp/progress/67.pdf
Yoshida, K.K., Li, A., & Odette, F. (1999).Cross-cultural views of disability and sexuality: Experiences of a group of ethno-racial women with physical disabilities. Sexuality and Disability, 17(4) 321-337.
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Published
Nov 10, 2014
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Author Biography
Godfrey Kangaude, Graduate, Sexual and Reproductive Rights Programme, University of the Free State
Godfrey Kangaude, B. Phil., LLM, is a graduate from Sexual and Reproductive Rights Programme run by Professor Charles Ngwena at the University of the Free State (South Africa). The article is an extract from the author’s LLM dissertation. He is currently an independent consultant on sexual and reproductive rights and can be contacted at: [email protected]