Securing Intimate Citizenship: The Effect of Capacity to Sexual Consent Policies and Practices on the Right of Women with Intellectual Disability to Sexual Relationships

Project Abstract: The goal of this project was to promote a shift in the paradigm of disability policies and practices from one that abridges the right of women with intellectual disability (ID) to sexual relationships, to one that secures the inalienability of this right. Partnered and sexual relationships are fundamental to many people’s physical and emotional well-being and the opportunity to pursue and maintain such relationships is an important quality of social inclusion and community living. However, Capacity to Sexual Consent (CTSC) policies and practices pose a significant barrier to such relationships for many women with ID as they are often used to abridge their right to sexually intimate relationships. Despite growing objections to the ways in which the socio-sexual opportunities of women with ID are obstructed, relatively minimal scholarship has examined the effects of CTSC. Operating from the position that sexual rights are universal and inalienable, the aims of this project were twofold. The first aim entailed critically evaluating how CTSC renders conditional the right of women with ID to sexually intimate relationships. The second aim was to offer an alternative paradigm for services that secures the inalienability of this right, while accounting for variation in women’s abilities. To pursue these aims, this project involved three conceptually-related research studies, each using a different analytical method to examine one particular quality of CTSC. Study 1 was a critical conceptual analysis of the misalignment of CTSC policies with the right to sexual relationships for women with ID. Study 2 used critical discourse analysis to elucidate the ways in which CTSC assessment tools abridge this right in practice. Study 3 was a survey analysis of disability professionals’ perspectives regarding CTSC policies and practices. Each study offered specific recommendations for an alternative paradigm with regard to: a replacement policy that secures the right to sexual relationships for women with ID (Study 1); a new assessment practice to elicit women’s directions for their socio-sexual lives and connect them with vital resources (Study 2); and the necessary supports for disability professionals to support the right of women with ID to sexually intimate relationships (Study 3).

项目摘要：本项目旨在推动残疾政策与实践范式的转型，从原本剥夺智力障碍（ID）女性的性关系权利，转向保障该项权利的不可剥夺性。伴侣关系与性关系是多数人身心福祉的核心基石，追求并维系此类关系的机会，亦是社会包容与社区生活的重要品质体现。然而，性同意能力（CTSC）相关政策与实践，却成为众多智力障碍女性建立此类关系的重大阻碍——此类政策与实践常被用于剥夺她们的亲密性关系权利。尽管针对智力障碍女性的性社交机会被阻挠的现状，反对声浪日益高涨，但现有学术研究对CTSC政策的影响探讨却相对匮乏。
本项目以“性权利具有普遍性与不可剥夺性”为立论基础，旨在达成双重目标：其一，批判性评估CTSC政策如何将智力障碍女性的亲密性关系权利设定为附条件权利；其二，提出服务领域的替代性范式，在兼顾女性能力差异的同时，保障该项权利的不可剥夺性。
为实现上述目标，本项目开展了三项概念关联的研究，每项研究采用不同的分析方法，针对CTSC的某一特定维度展开考察：研究1为批判性概念分析，旨在剖析CTSC政策与智力障碍女性性关系权利之间的错位问题；研究2采用批判性话语分析方法，阐释CTSC评估工具在实践中如何剥夺该项权利的具体路径；研究3为问卷调查分析，旨在探究残疾领域从业者对CTSC政策与实践的看法。
三项研究分别针对替代性范式提出了针对性建议：研究1提出可替代的政策方案，以保障智力障碍女性的性关系权利；研究2提出全新的评估实践模式，以明确女性在性社交与亲密关系方面的意愿方向，并为其对接关键支持资源；研究3则提出为残疾领域从业者提供必要支持，以协助其保障智力障碍女性的亲密性关系权利。