How prejudice strips people with disabilities of their sexual and reproductive rights

By Xanthe Hunt, Leslie Swartz, Mark Carew and Poul Rohleder

Using sexual and reproductive health services can be awkward. This feeling of discomfort can discourage people from asking their doctor about contraceptive options or to check out infections. For people with physical disabilities there are additional challenges such as healthcare workers’ prejudice with regards to their right to have sex and children. South Africa’s Constitution grants people with disabilities the same access to healthcare as the rest of the population. But as the results of a South African study show, the reality is quite different.

Few people relish the prospect of using sexual and reproductive health services. Such encounters can be a bit awkward at best and – at worst – uncomfortable enough to discourage anyone from doing what’s needed to maintain their health and wellbeing. Buying condoms, asking a doctor about contraceptive options, having infections checked out, discussing bleeding or not bleeding, erections or their absence, are difficult for most people.

This is why sexual and reproductive health services need to be organised with the service user’s emotional comfort in mind. Doctors and nurses, the atmosphere in clinics, and even the physical layout of family planning centres should enable people to move past the cringe and do what’s necessary for their health.

But some prospective service users are deterred from help-seeking, rather than catered for. When service providers have poor attitudes or aren’t familiar with the circumstances of patients, buildings are inaccessible and health facilities ill-equipped, additional barriers to care arise.

People with physical disabilities are one group of people who may face these challenges in taking care of their sexual and reproductive health. People with physical disabilities are not a homogeneous group, and there is huge variety in individuals’ experiences, functioning, histories and needs. We use the term “group” here to refer loosely to individuals with a somewhat shared experience of conditions of the body that make it more difficult to do certain activities and interact with the world around them. Yet, despite this diversity, many people with disabilities share a common experience of difficulty in accessing healthcare services, including services for sexual and reproductive health. Read more via Bhekisisa