Disability, space and sexuality: access to family planning services

In this paper we examine, from a social perspective, access to family plann ing clinics for disabled people. We argue that disabled people are commonly understood to be either asexual, uninterested in sex or unable to take par t in sexual activity, or sexual 'monsters' unable to control their sexual d rives and feelings. These understandings are reproduced through the use of cultural representations and myths, and are evidenced in the planning and d esign of family planning clinics and the information and services they prov ide. To illustrate our arguments we present the findings of a short questio nnaire survey of all family planning clinics in Northern Ireland. Physical access to these clinics was partial, and access to information and services were extremely limited. These results indicate that disabled people are no t expected to be using the services (consultation, treatment, information) that family planning clinics provide. As such, family planning clinics in N orthern Ireland represent a landscape of exclusion, denying disabled people access to services and reproducing cultural ideologies concerning disabili ty and sexuality. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.