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Decriminalisation of people with intellectual disabilities having sex welcomed

Instead, the status of a ‘protected person’ will be created for people who can’t give consent.

THE GOVERNMENT IS to repeal a law which made it a criminal offence for a person with an intellectual disability to have a sexual relationship.

The repeal of the ban on people with intellectual disabilities having romantic and sexual relationships has been welcomed by Rehab, one of the country’s largest disability charities.

New legislation repeals the previous blanket ban which prevented an individual having a sexual relationship with a person who has a mental health difficulty or an intellectual disability.

The new rule will come into effect after Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald signed the commencement order for the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017.

The law will consider whether a person with an intellectual disability has capacity to consent to a sexual relationship, rather than just outlawing such relationships because they have a disability.

Rehab said that the previous law “acted as a barrier to the fundamental right to marry and found a family, which is provided for under the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.

Protected person

To safeguard those who can’t consent to sexual relationships, a new category of ‘protected person’ has been created.

This will be defined as someone who lacks the capacity to consent to a sexual act by reason of a mental or intellectual disability, or a mental illness and is incapable of understanding, evaluating or communicating in relation to a sexual act.

It will now be illegal for a person to have a sexual relationship with a protected person.

Kathleen O’Meara of Rehab said: “This is an important step forward in opening up the law around sexual relationships for people with disabilities.

While, it is the case that this new law could have gone further to create a more disability neutral law, we believe this change in the law will provide greater opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities to assert their human right to marry and to found a family.

“It will also open access to essential sex education and sexual and reproductive health services for people with intellectual disabilities just like everyone else.”

Column: Tackling the taboo – relationships, sexuality and disability

Read: Call for repeal of ban on people with intellectual disabilities having sexual relationships

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34 Comments
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    Mute Ariana
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    May 15th 2017, 12:38 PM

    This is very positive, people shouldn’t be denied the same rights just because they’ve an intellectual disability. Glad they’re taking into account that some people can’t consent, but need to be protected.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    May 15th 2017, 12:41 PM

    @Ariana: That protection will always there and it applies to people with dementia too. There is a vast range of intellectual disability. Many people are already in loving relationships and now this means service providers won’t have to separate them and so on.

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    Mute Lynnfitzp
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    May 17th 2017, 12:38 AM

    @Ariana: I totally agree Ariana, especially re: the importance of the ‘protected person’ aspect of this bill. That’s why I am very distressed tonight having come across this response by the group recognised in Ireland as the official advocates for people with intellectual disabities: http://www.inclusionireland.ie/content/media/1608/provisions-new-sexual-offences-bill-are-narrow-protective-and-paternalistic

    My brother is 40 years old but his intellectual age is 1 years old. He requires 24 hour care and can’t speak. I feel that without this protected persons provision, he would have no protection under the new law, which is why I was so relieved to see that he (and the 4% registered as having profound ID in Ireland) were not forgotten in this. Am stunned at advocacy response.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    May 15th 2017, 12:33 PM

    Woo hoo !!! Long overdue !!! Now adults with intellectual disabilities can have relationships . Everyone should see the film Sanctuary !!! It’s a brilliant film on this topic. http://m.imdb.com/title/tt4664244/

    This does not facilitate perverts or rapists who take advantage of adults with learning disabilities. This is about loving adult couples wanting to have their intimate relationships on the same legal footing as anyone else without an intellectual disability !!!!

    89
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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    May 15th 2017, 12:36 PM

    @Catherine Sims: Really choked up over this. Happy tears tho

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    Mute PVD
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    May 15th 2017, 12:56 PM

    @Catherine Sims: great news well over due.

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    Mute Matty kinevan
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    May 15th 2017, 1:21 PM

    @Catherine Sims: Have you seen the TV show Undateables? It’s basically a dating show for people with intellectual or physical disabilities. Might sound exploitative but it’s actually very sweet. Some truly charming and lovely people on it. Tall bloke with autism called Daniel was my favourite, an absolute legend :-)

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    May 15th 2017, 1:30 PM

    @Matty kinevan: I have seen it and I’m very torn over it. Like you I think it humanises the individuals and their need like any other adult to have loving adult relationships. For too long they have been treated like children. On the other hand it might feel a bit like exploiting them. That said there was always going to have to be trail blazers who give the outside world a look inside their lives. It is very sweet though I agree.

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    Mute Matty kinevan
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    May 15th 2017, 1:50 PM

    @Catherine Sims: I think on paper it sounds exploitative, like cheap click bait or something. It was actually very well done though and like you said, humanised the individuals and does spread some awareness. I think ultimately, shows like that are a good thing if done properly. Everyone is a part of society and deserves some representation and not to be hidden away. I’d like if Daniel got his own show :-) quite the character and a total gent.

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    Mute AdijazzJohnson
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    May 15th 2017, 3:33 PM

    Nobody wants to deny romantic or sexual fulfillment to anyone who is capable of it but there’s a bit of an issue in our society in that there has been a complete mental divorce between sex and reproduction.

    Has this law now made it legal for mentally disabled people to reproduce? In a debate about sex, why were babies not even mentioned?

    This then surely raises a lot of questions- who’s going to raise the baby, is it fair to reproduce with a genetic disease, will the childhood be good?, etc.

    It seems you can just say that something is ‘sex-positive’ and all scrutiny dissolves under the weight of the feel-good vibes.

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    Mute Carol Oates
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    May 15th 2017, 4:47 PM

    @AdijazzJohnson: So you’re calling for Eugenics? What do you consider a genetic disease? Is it fair to allow families with a history of cancer or diabetes to reproduce? What about depression, or families with a history of asd? And note none of those are an intellectual disability. What skeletons do you have lurking in your genes that would have prevented your parents reproducing? For sure someone with a mild learning disability is probably better able to care for a child than most of the zombie junkies roaming the country.

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    Mute AdijazzJohnson
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    May 15th 2017, 6:02 PM

    @Carol Oates:
    I prefer a hot shower to a cold shower but would prefer a cold shower to a shower which burns my skin off and in the same way I am just because I’m asking questions about limits and definitions certainly doesn’t mean that I’m calling for a eugenics programme (I’m not).

    The point of my comment was that actual reproduction doesn’t seem to have been distinguished from the reproductive act, as if it was separate or entirely inconsequential, when in reality it could have very large ramifications if it’s not spelt out in law.

    The messy business of delineating what constitutes ‘genetic disease’ or potentially unfit parents is a problem for the legislators in question, not me and you; I’m just flummoxed that it didn’t even get mentioned, that’s what I meant.

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    Mute Carol Oates
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    May 15th 2017, 6:42 PM

    @AdijazzJohnson: It doesn’t apply to the right have consensual sex and has no place in this legisation anymore than limiting the reproductive rights of any individuals with genetic susceptibility to cancer, or diabetes, or cystic fibrosis. All of which, as well as passing on susceptible genes, can mean the parent becomes limited in their ability to care for their child to adulthood. How about legislation for sterilization of drug addicts, or alcoholics? Both can have kids genetically susceptible or even addicted at birth. All this legislation does is allow people who can consent to sex to legally consent the same as anyone else. The genetic mapping at the age of consent to decide who legally can and can’t reproduce is, thankfully, still something out of dystopian fiction.

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    Mute Graham Quinn
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    May 17th 2017, 7:54 AM

    @AdijazzJohnson: guess what ? It’s 2017 and people have sex for pleasure. You should get out more.

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    Mute Seth Cheffetz
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    May 15th 2017, 12:39 PM

    I cannot believe there was a law that made having a sexual relationship illegal for people with intellectual disabilities.
    It’s the “people” that made this law that should not be allowed to breed.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    May 15th 2017, 12:43 PM

    @Seth Cheffetz: it was something highlighted a lot during the build up to the marriage equality referendum. I’m so glad it’s finally happening !!!

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    Mute Tom Burke
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    May 15th 2017, 12:49 PM

    @Seth Cheffetz: if life were only that simple. The law was never intended to prevent those with an intellectual disability having a sexual relationship but to protect them.
    It’s all very well to celebrate this law but I wonder how it will deal with borderline cases.

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    Mute Seth Cheffetz
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    May 15th 2017, 12:54 PM

    @Tom Burke: I understand that but if a law denies people rights in order to “protect them” that’s going too far.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    May 15th 2017, 12:55 PM

    @Tom Burke: it has worked successfully in other countries though. It’s all to do with the capacity for consent. Mostly it’s concerning people with disabilities have relationships but occasionally there is a relationship between someone neurotypical and someone with a disability. In that case the woman had Down syndrome and the couple married and went on to have a son. She didn’t have a significant learning disability. On a practical level it means that service providers can now accommodate couples openly. They have been put in a difficult position over the law up to this point but love has found a way on some occasions .

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    Mute Tom Burke
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    May 15th 2017, 1:35 PM

    @Seth Cheffetz: not necessarily.
    Do you think we should give those with intellectual disability the ‘right’ to be taken advantage of?

    I’m all for the change in legislation provided it’s workable.

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    Mute Tony Daly
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    May 15th 2017, 12:41 PM

    As long as the protections work in practice, this reform is to be welcomed.

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    Mute Virtual Architect
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    May 15th 2017, 12:56 PM

    I don’t trust the government to protect people. They prove themselves inept and corrupt at every turn. Garda scandals, child abuse scandal cover ups. In my own experience they can’t enforce the existing laws never mind introduce new ones. There also seems to be agendas behind some of the new laws coming in.

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    Mute Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
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    May 15th 2017, 12:59 PM

    This development is very welcome. However how does the protected person disclose that he/she is a protected person? Who decides and how is that decision communicated to a third party? Say a protected person does not agree with being defined as a protected person. How will that be dealt with?

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    May 15th 2017, 1:26 PM

    @Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: It boils down to capacity and if try have the capacity to protest then they probably have the capacity to consent. There are classifications anyway. My son is classed as being in the severe to profound and can’t consent. This legislation is really not about relationships between neurotypical people and those with intellectual disabilities. There will be protections in place and remember usually these two groups don’t socialise much together . So it’s not going to be like a guy meeting a girl in a pub and not realising she is underage and having sex with her. It’s totally different. There are many couples with Down Syndrome well capable of consenting and can and do have living relationships. There is always either a service provider or family member to advocate anyway. It’s rare for a person with an intellectual disability to be completely on their own ( even if they live independently they have lots of input from service providers or family ) .

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    Mute Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
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    May 15th 2017, 2:27 PM

    @Catherine Sims: Thank you for clarifying for me.

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    Mute Aidan O Dwyer
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    May 15th 2017, 12:39 PM

    More regulations. Does this state want to control absolutely everything it’s citizens get up to?

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    May 15th 2017, 12:42 PM

    @Aidan O Dwyer: have you even read the article ???

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    Mute Carl Nolan
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    May 15th 2017, 1:04 PM

    @Catherine Sims: I miss the downvote button.

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    Mute Sarah Fitzgerald
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    May 15th 2017, 6:40 PM

    Great stuff. Can we please look at ratifying the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities now, or are there more legislative ‘roadblocks’ to be removed?

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    Mute Brendan McLaughlin
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    May 15th 2017, 2:06 PM

    “Falling in love” is a form of insanity in which the chemical and electrical impulses and signals of the brain behave totally irrationally and in the same patterns as “Insane Brains”.
    Although not a prerequisite for sex, it is often linked. Physical sex is based on instinct and arousal. So ergo, I have never had sex with anyone who was not insane or mentally disabled.
    Great days indeed they were/are too let me tell ya.
    Just saying like.

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    Mute cortisola
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    May 15th 2017, 2:32 PM

    More geriatric alzheimer millionaires married to young beautiful gold diggers ?

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    Mute Flip off
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    May 15th 2017, 6:54 PM

    But the same government recently criminalised the purchase of sex, so for many of these people liberated by this new legislation are being persecuted by another piece of legislation.

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    Mute Catherine Sims
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    May 15th 2017, 9:00 PM

    @Flip off: I definetly need clarification on your comment. Are you suggesting that people with intellectual disabilities will be purchasing sex ??? Is that what you are saying ? That there is no other way for them to have a sex life ??? That is utter rubbish !!! Couples with intellectual disabilities have very loving and fulfilled relationships !!!!!! Clarification please !!!!!!!!!

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    Mute William Grogan
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    May 15th 2017, 11:34 PM

    This is one of these issues which proves there’s no god.

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