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Some of Marianne's clients are young men, others are spending their pensions, some are married.

And some are disabled .

It's no big deal to her or them - they may need a little longer to get undressed or she might have to visit them at home as her house wasn't built with disabled access in mind.

But they all leave her content, she explains: “Most of my disabled clients have repeat visits so I assume they are happy.

“I saw a man with a brain injury about three or four times.

“He was very happy and smiled a lot after and his carer said he looked forward to seeing me.”

This week, author Kathy Lette and model Katie Price, whose children both suffer from autism, spoke about taking their boys to a sex worker so they could experience the intimacy the rest of us take for granted .

It's a taboo subject for many but for those disabled people who struggle to make physical connections with others, sexual contact gives enormous pleasure.

(Image: The Image Bank)

Marianne, 39, is a former social worker, whose own mother suffered from multiple sclerosis.

She's been a sex worker for four and a half years and she estimates around 10 per cent of her clients have either physical or mental disabilities.

She said: “I don't recall the first time I had a disabled client but one gentleman had had an acquired brain injury since he was 14.

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“He was in his 30s and lived alone with full time personal care.

“He had opened up to one of his carers about his sexual urges and not being able to get them met and she very sensitively spoke to his parents with his consent and got their consent to source a woman for him.

“I don't think he would have had the capacity to do it on his own and he was very vulnerable and wouldn't have known how to be safe about it.

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“I visited him in his home and his carer was downstairs while we were upstairs and I was his first sexual experience.”

Marianne, who lists herself on a website which aims to help disabled people connect with sex workers, is sometimes contacted direct and other times by a friend or carer.

She said: “With another client I saw, with quite severe learning disabilities, I was contacted through a charity worker.

“He had been exposing himself in public places and displaying unwanted sexual behaviour, and they ascertained from talking to him that it was due to sexual frustration and not ever having had any kind of sexual experience.

“He was more taken and interested with physical contact with a woman - the cuddling, the kissing and the physical contact.

“He was a 58-year-old man who had never had a naked woman in his bed.

"Although he doesn't have the same understanding of relationships and the world as everyone else, he still had those physical urges and they were creating problems for him in his life which could have led to him being criminalised.”

(Image: Cultura RF)

Marianne charges £130-an-hour for her time whether clients are able bodied or not but allows extra time for “getting undressed” or “dealing with bodily functions and things like catheters”.

She said: “My client with cerebral palsy makes long bookings but he probably gets a hour or two extra because of picking him up from the station and helping him up the stairs.”

The desires or needs of disabled clients, she says, are just as varied as able bodied people. For some, it is purely about a physically connection.

One client, for example, is a 53-year-old able bodied virgin who visits regularly just to have a connection with member of the opposite sex.

Others come to exercise their masculinity, she said: “I see a gentleman who is paralysed from the chest down and he has no sensation down below but we have tried a drug you can get which you inject into the penis to try and achieve an erection.

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“He can't feel that but to him it is psychological - he wants to see his dick hard, he wants to have that feeling of manliness. And he can still give pleasure to a woman and be with someone and be affectionate with someone.

“I have a regular gentleman who has multiple sclerosis and he has had sexual experiences in his life before the onset of his illness.

“He is in his mid 40s and is quite severely physically disabled now and, although he is in a electric wheelchair, he can't weight-bear at all and we have to use a hoist.

(Image: Rex Features)

“I visit him every couple of months.

“I have another regular client who is 36 and who has cerebral palsy and he had seen another woman before me but from what he said was not really experienced with regards disability and tried to take advantage of him financially.

“He has been seeing me now for probably three years on a fairly regular basis.”

Marianne said she read Kathy Lette's piece where she said she had been kerb crawling to find a woman for her son.

She believes that is a outdated view of the industry and she and Katie Price would easily find what they need online.

She said: “The reality is parents don't have to kerb crawl any more to find escorts.

“With the onset on the Internet, the type of women offering services has changed dramatically.”

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She said, personally, she would have reservations about meeting Katie Price's son Harvey, explaining: “I would very reluctant because he is much younger than his physical age and my understanding of his problems there would need to be a risk assessment done.

“Through no fault of his own he can be aggressive.

“I have seen an 18-year-old client who has cerebral palsy but he contacted me himself directly and I asked him to show ID.

“He was living semi-sheltered accommodation and there were staff in the building next door.

“Every situation is different though but a lot of women wouldn't do it at all.

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“My gentleman with learning disabilities used to be really slobbery on my face and it wasn't very pleasant but those are the parts of the job you accept and I think he got a lot out of it.

“I think you have got to have the right combinations of skills to work with disabled people.”

Looking forward, Marianne thinks work needs to be done to break down both the stigma of disability and also of sex work.

She said: “I consider it the last real taboo in British society.

“We talk about breaking down stigma around mental health but also around sex work.

“To the public you are either a high class call girl or a drug addict walking the streets but a lot of us are middle class women fulfilling a real need in society.”

The disabled person's view

Asta Philpot, 35, from Leeds, was born with arthrogryposis – a muscle related condition which can limit sufferers range of motion.

Age 25, he lost his virginity in a Spanish brothel and since then has visited sex workers from time to time when not in a relationship.

He has also helped other disabled people have sexual experiences.

He said: “I have been judged by society all my life because of my disability and there was a time when I didn't think I would ever have sex or even know if I could.

“I had all the same desires as other young men but my disability felt like a barrier to me having relationships.

“When I had sex, it was amazing. I felt incredible, it made me more confident.

“I've had a two-year relationship as well as the Tindr kind of hook ups.

“I think Katie Price is absolutely right to seek something for Harvey, she knows him better than anyone and will make sure he is safe.

“I wish I could help.

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“I still sometimes use sex workers and will continue to until I have long term relationship.

“We are all too quick to judge each other based on how we look as there are lots of incredible human beings out there who are deserving of physical contact.

“It needs to stop being a taboo subject where people think just because you are disabled you can only have a relationship with another disabled person.

“I can give someone happiness just as much as anyone else and I have seen friends die without ever experiencing a physical relationship, no one should suffer that.

“Every human has a right to physical contact, without sex we wouldn't exist.”

The charity view

(Image: Jennie Williams)

Jennie Williams, director and founder of the user led disability charity, Enhance the UK, comments: "When the subject of disability and sex is talked about in the media, all too often sex workers are mentioned and discussed.

"Most people want the chance of a meaningful sexual experience, it doesn't have to mean marriage and children but the majority of us want to be having sex with someone who isn't being paid to perform the act.

"There is a huge gap in our eduction system that denies disabled children inclusive sex education.

"There is also a massive lack of representation of disabled people in the media and this is problematic in itself because people who are not disabled more often than not don't see disabled people as being sexually active.

"Enhance the UK supports people with physical and sensory impairments and is trying to change the perception around disability.

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"If someone was to hire a sex worker or parents hire a sex worker for their child it should be a choice not because that is the only option for that persons to have a sexual experience.

"We also need to be very clear there is a difference between the kind of support and education that someone who has a learning disability and someone who has a physical sensory impairment would need.

"We need to be educating young disabled people, supporting parents and there needs to be more positive everyday representation in the media around disability so 'sex and disability' isn't still seen and treated as Taboo subject."

Are you disabled and do you use the services of sex workers, or are you a sex worker who has disabled clients, if you want to share your story? Please email steve.myall@mirror.co.uk