The Consultation Committee for Bioethics in Belgium has prepared a positive opinion, after spending five years considering the support for sexual activities for people with a disability. Het Belang van Limburg is reporting this on Wednesday. Philippe Courard (PS), then Secretary of State for Persons with a Disability, requested the opinion in 2012.
The Committee is advising the authorities to instigate a legislative framework. This is so that neither the institution in which the person with a physical disability resides, nor the association where the carer offering assistance with such activities works, can be prosecuted for inciting prostitution. Such carers should also be trained, as is already the case in Switzerland.
The opinion is equally valid for those with a learning disability. Learning disability cases should be decided by justices of the peace. The Committee believes that these categories of people should be able to have assistance in this sphere. This will protect them from being abused.
However, the Committee does not believe that such assistance should be reimbursed by public bodies.
The Brussels Times
