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Mental capacity and the control of sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities in England and Wales
DOI link for Mental capacity and the control of sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities in England and Wales
Mental capacity and the control of sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities in England and Wales book
Mental capacity and the control of sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities in England and Wales
DOI link for Mental capacity and the control of sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities in England and Wales
Mental capacity and the control of sexuality of people with intellectual disabilities in England and Wales book
ABSTRACT
In England and Wales, people with intellectual disabilities have sex in the shadow of two legal regimes. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (SOA), it is a criminal offence to engage in sexual activity ‘with a person with a mental disorder impeding choice’, defined as lacking the ‘capacity’ to make a choice about consenting to sex (s30). This modernized older laws prohibiting a man from having extra-marital sex with ‘a woman whom he knows to be an idiot or imbecile’ (s7 SOA 1956). The intention behind this was to create a law which would permit people with intellectual disabilities to enjoy sexual relationships, whilst retaining a deterrent against sexual exploitation (Law Commission, 2000).