In an interview on Disability

Your next book, Ken Plummer’s Telling Sexual Stories, is very much looking at the private side of things as well.

Yes. There is a huge gap in information about the personal lives of disabled people. I wanted to do some empirical research into this so I could write a book called The Sexual Politics of Disability: Untold Desires. Of course, there is this prevailing view that disabled people are asexual. And, as I tried to think through the methodology of doing this book and think about sexuality, Ken Plummer’s book was really helpful. He talks about sexual identity in terms of stories we tell ourselves and share with others. Identity is all about finding the right story for yourself and your experience. He talks about rape survival stories and coming-out stories but not disability stories. So I took his understanding of identity and applied it to disability.

And what was the reaction to your book?

Well, a lot of people were really pleased to have a book like that out there which acknowledged this is an important part of disabled people’s lives. It certainly gave impetus to the whole area of sexuality in disability. In WHO this month we have produced a policy brief on sexual reproductive health and people with disabilities, so that very much comes out of it.

But others said, Why are you talking about what is private? Why are you talking about these experiences? So we got slammed for it as well. Our critics thought this is not what the disability movement should be doing. There are people who prefer to concentrate on public policy. Whereas I think for most people – non-disabled or disabled – having a relationship, having a family is absolutely crucial. You can live without a job but you can’t really live without intimacy.