Blog Carnival: Healing Touch

For the blog carnival, I’m highlighting some some pieces from Touching Base New South Wales, an organization in Australia -where sex work is decriminalized- that  aims to:

• Facilitate the links between people with a disability, their support organisations and the Sex Industry
• Encourage information sharing and educational training programs for sex workers, people with a disability and their carers.
• Raise the public and professional awareness of the issues surrounding the access and provision of Sex Industry services for people with a disability.

My daughter had good friends, but severely affected by cerebral palsy, the boyfriends just didn’t come along.

She watched her non disabled friends going out with boys… and getting married… and was becoming increasingly unhappy and just plain bitchy at times. She hated being single, she said.

Eventually, over our breakfast porridge one Sunday morning, I asked her if she’d like to have sex with someone. She looked at me in amazement, but nodded her head. I’d saddled myself with an unenviable task. How to go about it?

My husband and I talked it over and decided to start where everyone else did at the local brothel. We fronted up to the establishment and sat in the car looking at the door. My husband said, “Which one of us is going in?” I said, I thought we both were,” so in we went.

–read A Parent’s Story

Once the sex worker was found none of the family members, nor the carers (all female or older generation) would do the final arranging for the sex worker to visit Bill. Being non verbal and having limited range of motion Bill could not arrange the meeting hence the case worker had to then arrange the meeting between Bill and the sex worker and then ask the family and carers to leave the house once she arrived. Bill was so excited that he was finally able to meet with the sex worker that once undressed and his session had begun he ejaculated early and did not get to feel much more than embarrassment and feeling of lost pride. No matter how hard the sex worker worked with Bill he was unable to get a full service. Hence something that Bill had tried to access for years proved to be a negative experience for him.

–read Bill’s Private worker at home

With regard to my disability, I am approaching 60 and born with spina bifida. This has left me with a severe curvature of the spine and partial paralysis in both legs. I use a wheelchair for long distances and two walking sticks around the unit and for walking short distances. I don’t have much sensation in the genital area, the only part of the penis that is sensitive is the tip while the shaft has hardly any feeling at all.
…
I had no sexual experience while growing up and first sought a sex worker when I was 18. I went to Kings Cross and walked down one of the lanes I had read about where the girls stood at the doors. When I started to walk down most of them disappeared inside. This was an enlightening experience. One didn’t and I went in. It was naturally a complete disaster as I really didn’t know what to do and she didn’t want to show me. It was however my first experience of touching a naked woman and that I did enjoy…

–read Clifford shares his years of experience