Sexuality education and experiences of violence: exploring the sexual lives of women with physical disability

Abstract

Disability is a broad category deployed in both academic literature and public discourse, which obscures important differences that cause the social stratification of people based on their gender and form of impairment. This research study focuses on women with physical disability and the specific ways they are desexualised by society through social stratification. The social perception that women with physical disability are not viewed as sexual beings seems benign; it is anything but. Such a view opens them up to interpersonal and institutionalised medical violence. Desexualising women with physical disability infantilises them to the extent they are viewed as ‘eternal children,’ wholly incapable of participating in society as fully-fledged political subjects. This desexualisation inhibits one’s agency and ability to lead an autonomous life. <br><br> This qualitative study involved in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 19 women with physical disability across eight Australian cities and five Australian states. It examines the provision of sexuality education for women with physical disability and explores how they developed sexual identities and practised sexual lives despite a lack of inclusive or relatable sexuality education. The research highlights the desexualisation experienced by these women from families, school educators, and medical professionals, which often resulted in physical, sexual, and medicalised violence. However, the study also underscores the resourcefulness and resistance of these women as they sought alternative networks of information and resources to develop their sexual identities and practices.<br><br>

This study contributes to the resistance of women with physical disability by employing inclusive research practices to amplify their views and voices. It provides a model for future research and institutional consultations to make society more accessible, safe, and inclusive for women with physical disability.