Brothels for people with disabilities, yes or not?

by Ivano Abbadessa - 2013.01.21

Her name is Becky Adams. She is been the most appreciated "maîtresse" in the United Kingdom for 20 years. Her proposal to open “brothels” for satisfying the sensual pleasures of people with disabilities is causing debate among Her Majesty’s subjects, first of all among feminists. Arrested multiple times by the police because of her old job, "Madam Becky" sold her activity in 2009 to one of the call girls who worked for her and one year later she retired in her native city in Buckinghamshire to write a book of memories, thanks to which she won the Brit Writers Award 2012.



Surprisingly, the 44-year-old woman was also awarded the Erotic Award, the prize delivered by Outsiders, a British organization helping people with disabilities to enjoy a full life, even sexually. Ms. Adams currently directs the no-profit organization Para Doxies: a call-centre where volunteers help disabled people find trusted prostitutes. It receives about twelve requests every week and claims that its services satisfy a human need important for every individual, also for people with physical and mental disabilities that often incur in difficulties with sexual relations. Madam Becky now wants to look further with a $100,000 investment: creating a no-profit association with personnel trained to exclusively meet the sexual needs of people with disabilities.



However, according to Ms. Adams, it’s not only about mere sex. Their goal is to offer young men - who never had the opportunity to normally interact with same-age young women – the possibility to try strokes, cuddles, kisses and other feelings. That’s the case of Alexander Freeman, the 25-year-old film maker, affected by brain paralysis since his birth who has fervently looked for intimacy and sensuality with a woman for years, without finding it.



In a documentary written, directed and produced by him, titled "The Last Taboo", Freeman tells the story of six people, men and women with physical disabilities who share their points of view on intimacy and relations. The short film’s goal is to lead the audience to think about their own – often distorted – ideas on the relationship between disabilities, identity, gender and sexuality. According to the young American film-maker, who fully supports Becky Adams’ idea, denying a disabled person the right to sensuality means denying his being a human.