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  • Why we exist
  1. About us
  2. Why we exist

Why we exist

We believe that people with learning disabilities have the same rights to love who they want and how they want, as anyone else — or not— as they choose. With that right comes responsibilities, knowledge and an understanding of consent.

Some facts: 

  • A third of 18-35-year-olds with a learning disability spend less than an hour a day outside their homes (Mencap, 2016).
  • Only three per cent of people with a learning disability live as a couple, compared to 70 per cent of the general adult population (Emerson, 2005 - The National Survey of Adults with Learning Disabilities).
  • A 2015 BBC investigation found that there were 4,748 reports of sexual abuse against adults with disabilities in two years. These are just the cases that have been reported and are known to be the tip of the iceberg of actual abuse incidents. As reported by the BBC’s Panorama in May 2019, there are too many.  

There is very little help and support for people with learning disabilities to understand and explore topics such as:

  • appropriate behaviour
  • body awareness
  • understanding consent
  • staying safe online
  • the right to an acknowledged relationship
  • use of contraception
  • pregnancy
  • being aware of body changes that might require a doctor’s check-up.

That’s what we’re about: reminding society that people with learning disabilities are mothers, fathers, lovers, dancers and some (we understand…) are great kissers!

Published: 5th August, 2019

Updated: 14th January, 2020

Author:

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