Sex as a charitable activity? That’s an easy one, surely? The answer must be no.
Yet in the past couple of weeks, there have been two stories about organisations that have backed the idea that sector bodies could provide or support the provision of sex to disabled people.
One is a former madam who’s proposing the country’s first not-for-profit brothel. She didn’t make it into the news pages of Third Sector, but you can read about her here. The other is a care home that is being investigated because residents have been allowed to bring in prostitutes.
So far, so likely to produce a series of double entendres and dirty jokes.
But before we titter behind our hands and then dismiss it, there are some serious points to be made here.
Apart from anything else, this raises the question of how far sector organisations should push the boundaries in support of their beneficiaries. Here, after all, we’re seeing a charity being investigated for fulfilling the desires of individuals in its care – without breaking the law of the land, I suspect.
I also hope and suspect the investigation will find the charity acted properly, and I rather hope (but do not suspect) that if this proves the case, then they will be congratulated for helping people in a pretty desperate situation. I hope other charities follow suit, if they aren’t doing it already.
The sector is here to look after the needs of the vulnerable and dispossessed, including disabled people. Disabled men and women clearly feel that having sex is one of these – an “ancient and primeval need”, as one paper described it.
If that’s what disabled people need, then the sector should help meet that need, with the same tact, dignity and support offered in other areas, ensuring that those who are disadvantaged do not suffer more than they need to for the sake of saving other peoples’ blushes.
Sometimes charities need to stand up for what’s right, even when it isn’t easy, and even when it gets them into trouble.
Other nations – the liberal Dutch foremost among them, perhaps unsurprisingly – have already supported such changes. If sector organisations try to push them through here they should have our backing.