Sexual Citizenship and Disability (Interdisciplinary Disability Studies)

What does ‘sexual citizenship’ mean in practice for people with mobility impairments

who may need professional support to engage in sexual activity?

The book explores this subject through empirical investigation based on

case studies conducted in four countries – Sweden, England, Australia and the

Netherlands – and develops the abstract notion of ‘sexual citizenship’ to make

it practically relevant to disabled people, professionals in disability services and

policy-makers.

Through a cross-national approach, it demonstrates the variability of how

sexual rights are understood and their culturally specific nature. It also shows

how the personal is indeed political: states’ different policy approaches change

the outcomes for disabled people in terms of support to explore and express their

sexualities.

By proposing a model of sexual facilitation that can be used in policy development,

to better cater to disabled service users’ needs as well as furthering the

theoretical understanding of sexual rights and sexual citizenship, this book will

be of interest to professionals in disability services and policy-makers as well as

academics and students working in the following subject areas: Disability Studies,

Sociology, Social Policy, Sexuality Studies/Sexology, Social Work, Nursing,

Occupational Therapy and Public Health.

Julia Bahner is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Social Work, Lund

University, Sweden and was formerly Marie Curie Individual Fellow at the Centre

for Disability Studies, School of Sociology, University of Leeds, UK. She holds a

PhD in social work and has worked extensively with disabled people’s organisations,

sexual rights organisations and disability service organisations to develop

better policies and practices around sexuality, disability and support.