Cleaning a peer

The situation took place at a facility for teenagers with multiple impairments that offers care but also training and entertainment.  The narrator was working a usual day, performing his tasks which involved aiding the teenagers with their daily routines.  These tasks included cleaning them and taking care of their toiletry needs. When he was cleaning the teenager, there was nobody else in the room.

The situation took place at a facility for teenagers with multiple impairments that offers care but also training and entertainment.  The narrator was working a usual day, performing his tasks which involved aiding the teenagers with their daily routines.  These tasks included cleaning them and taking care of their toiletry needs. When he was cleaning the teenager, there was nobody else in the room.

Sexuality for the narrator is not just a bodily function, but something connected to concepts of autonomy and free will.  Becoming the object of a sexual encounter without consent is uncomfortable.

• One element of the shock points to the taboo of sexuality of disabled persons. Sexuality and disability is a rarely discussed subject in public debate. While there are very specific discussions among disability activists and organisations, on a more general level the topic is stigmatised as something potentially disturbing.

The incident threatened boundaries of professional practice and conceptions of the narrator’s professional self.  Sexuality belongs to the private sphere and is not to be incorporated into professional encounters.  A transgression of these level challenges norms of professional conduct.

• Adhering to the value of professionalism renders not knowing how to act problematic, since professionals are trained for specific courses of action. They are experts within their specific field. Uncertainty challenges notions of professionalism.
• Therefore, the incident addresses the limits of professional care and assistance. Whilst cleaning the teenagers is not a problem, touching a sexually aroused body is.  One element might be covered under the taboo of sexual services, which are a very specific type of service, which can be made use of, but constitutes a different professional realm than the one of personal assistance.
• The narrator became part of a sexual act without consenting to it, thereby transforming the relationship between him and the teenager from a friendly work-relationship where the narrator is aiding the impaired teenager to being an issue of sexual infringement.

Non-autonomy (dependency or compulsion) is experienced as disturbing:

• The narrator is questioning the teenager’s autonomy in being able to control having an erection. The shock derives specifically from this perception of losing control over bodily functions tied to sexuality. While the narrator had known for a long time that the teenager was not able to regulate his body in the same way he himself did, it became problematic in terms of their relationship when sexuality was concerned.
• Since it remained unclear to the narrator whether the erection was voluntary, he was uncertain how to react: the taboo of addressing “slips” of the body due to controlling one’s body is tied to Western notions of autonomous self-hood. The person the narrator considers to be a friend is reduced to a slipping body during the incident.

The incident points to self-shock by the narrator, when realising how relating to his friend, the teenager, is fundamentally altered by acknowledging the difference of being able-bodied himself versus his friend being impaired.  His value of being an open-minded person is threatened by experiencing how relating to people at the same level is dependent on specific bodily preconditions.

Neutral; helpless; The narrator portrays the teenager as a mere body.

Since the narrator and the teenager never talked about the incident there is very little information regarding the perspective of the teenager, i.e. whether the erection was intentional, his views on sexuality and his sexual preferences.

In case of intention the teenager might have wanted to exert his agency and demonstrate that he is a sexual being despite being physically impaired, pointing to values of autonomy in relation to the norm of a (non-)functioning body as well as to the taboo of sexuality and disability.

• He might be demonstrating his independence in light of stereotypes of disabled people he is confronted with.
• In relation to him being a teenager one could also suspect that he is exploring his sexuality, being curious or adventurous.
• Since there is little public discussion about disability and sexuality, he might be testing the waters with little guidance on how to act and what to base his actions on.

Maybe he was recognising the specific relationship with the narrator as care-taker, reacting to physical touch from an emotionally close individual, demonstrating empathy.

• Sexuality is an issue of relationship, friendship, closeness.
• Where is the line between caring touch and sexual touch to be drawn?
• The caring relationship symbolises a safe space for the teenager where he does not have to constantly control himself or be subject to strict codes of conduct.

On the other hand, he could also be leaning towards sexuality being primarily a bodily function, arousal being caused by touch.

• Sexuality is part of life and not something exceptional.
• The teenager could be challenging that autonomy that should be demonstrated by the body or a specific way of regulating the body.
• Since bodily functions and products are part of the care taking relationship, there is no staunch orientation towards the public and the private as separate spheres, but a more fluid concept of privacy.

Boundaries of assistance / care-taking professionals

• Training of care-taking professionals: Addressing the topic of sexuality and disability, scrutinising personal views on sexuality and disability and exploring possibilities to deal with and discuss challenges
• Setting boundaries within professional care relationships: How to react when personal boundaries are crossed?
• Furthering dialogue between care professionals and professionals in the realm of sexual services to enhance knowledge transfer but also cooperation and referrals.

Definitions of sexuality

• Facilitating communication about disability and sexuality, challenging taboos concerning non-normative bodies and thereby strengthening the agency of people with disabilities
• What types of bodies are considered sexual beings?
• Since disability and sexuality is considered a taboo, there is little sex education for youths who are disabled as well as little recognition of their needs and desires, pointing to a training need for educators and care takers.
• Stigmatising the sexuality of disabled people contributes to a lack of open communication with possible consequences for care taking relationships – regarding quality of care but also the creation of a comfortable working environment for care taking staff.

Ideal of independent self worth

• Self-worth in Western societies rests heavily on notions of independence that are tied to your control over a functioning body (normal view).
• Challenging these norms and exposing how they devalue a broad spectrum of disabled people.