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A law in Ireland makes sex illegal for people with intellectual disabilities if they are not married. Several organisations in Ireland are trying to change this law. They want people with intellectual disabilities to be able to choose whether they want to have sex or not.They made a play called Sanctuary so that more people know that this is happening. The play will be shown in Dublin on 3 December. Dublin is a city in Ireland. |
The 1993 Criminal Law Act in Ireland criminalises sexual relations with people with intellectual disabilities outside of marriage.
Inclusion Europe member Inclusion Ireland has called for this law to be changed so that it takes into account relationships for people with intellectual disabilities.
Inclusion Ireland CEO Paddy Connolly said: “Most of us take our right to have intimate relationships for granted, the right to love and be loved, the right to physical and emotional expression of that love. People with an intellectual disability face significant barriers to enjoying that same right.”
Initially, the law’s objective was to prevent people who have an intellectual disability from being abused, but it is now also preventing them from having consensual sexual relations. Inclusion Ireland´s Adrian Noonan, who is part of a self –advocacy group, said: “This is unfair because it’s basically saying that we are not equal citizens in our own country and that we are unable to decide for ourselves how to run own lives and make these decisions for ourselves.”
Marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December, Inclusion Ireland and Down Syndrome Ireland will be releasing the award winning play ‘Sanctuary’ to raise awareness on this matter.
