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Denmark

March 2022

In early February 2021, Government Services Minister Stuart Robert availed himself of the bloated microphone belonging to the uncouth Ray Hadley, to announce the Federal government would push forward with legislation seeking to limit the usage of NDIS funding for specialised sex worker services. The move comes after a court ruled, in May 2020, that a 40-year-old woman could access specialised sex worker services as the NDIS Act “does not expressly exclude such activities from being funded supports”. The Act only specifies funding be used for what is “reasonable and necessary”. The ruling essentially allows NDIS funding for specialised sex work services due to it not being specifically prohibited. Robert, who in his first breath on 2GB’s air slurred sex workers stating “I never thought you and I would be talking about prostitutes”, failed in the aftermath of the ruling to gain the unanimity required from State and Territory legislators for his proposal to limit the funding of sex work through the NDIS. The Minister’s campaign to limit funding for specialised sex worker services, based on his perception of ‘community standards’, reflects the same old tired conservative perspective that sex only happens in the marital bedroom and everywhere else is tantamount to a dirty alleyway. Sex and sexuality are essential components of the human experience and human nature. Many people with disability experience overwhelming stigma and discrimination when seeking to form intimate relationships with others. People with disability don’t have the same opportunities to build relationships and seek connections which lead to sexual release. It is important that sexual services are recognised as a legitimate service for people with disability, who are often unable to enjoy intimacy and sexual pleasure with another person, or even the ability to sexually express themselves in any way. So, while the Government can portray the court’s ruling as tax-payers handing people with disabilities a stack of twenty dollar bills to take down to the local strip club_brothel, anyone with an ounce of empathy can see it’s more about allowing a marginalised group of people the ability to experience the same level of intimacy that people without disabilities take for granted. The Minister clearly views sex workers through an antiquated lens. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought sharply into focus what is and isn’t an essential service, which coalesces with the increasing enlightening of society to the de-stigmatisation of sex work in general. One of the three main categories in a person’s NDIS Plan is ‘Capacity Building’. Part of this category is to improve relationships, improve health and wellbeing, improve life choices, and improve daily living. The NDIS stresses that the participant has ‘choice and control’ over how they use their funds. Under this framework, the funding provides opportunities to, inter alia, go to the movies, participate in hydrotherapy and attend art classes. These activities are all leisure or therapeutically based. So how do they differ to specialised sex worker services Sexual release for a person who is denied it due to conditions outside of their control can be as beneficial as any of the aforementioned activities, but for the stigmatisation of sex. The idea that vulnerable people should be separated from sexual services is anachronistic, unhelpful and damaging to the health and wellbeing of people with disability. It should be mandatory for carers for people with disability to have training regarding the importance of sexuality and intimacy. They should be given the resources to seek sex work services and learn how to support the participant when taking them to these services. So, how does sex work affect the lives of people with disabilities and their carers And what issues do access to sex work services solve For people with disability, sex can’t always be a purely private matter. Some disabilities limit self-directed movement or abilities, thus requiring assistance from another person. Professional sex workers are prepared to meet the sexual needs of people who require this sort of assistance. From personal experience as a young female Support Worker, the absence of access to sexual release, particularly in male clients, can result in inappropriate sexual remarks and gestures at the carers. Providing access to sex workers will minimise sexual assault and potential inappropriate behaviour between a client and their carer, specifically young female workers. Despite its many faults, even under the, people with a disability have access to government-funded sex therapy as part of their rehabilitation and community living re-integration programs. In Denmark, public funds can be used for a person with a disability to access a sex worker monthly. Decades of research have uncovered the many, which include physical health, quality of life, psychological well-being and sexual self-esteem. Unfortunately, because of social taboos and hypocrisy surrounding the topic of sexuality, barriers are created to stop people from fully realising these benefits. The NDIS facilitates ‘choice and control’ for people with disabilities over how they utilise their funding, in order for them to live fulfilling and enriching lives. People with disabilities have the same right to a healthy sex life, as everyone else. The Government’s intention to legislate on the issue in order to deny rights to people with disabilities is short sighted and rooted in archaic view of sex and fails to take into account the many benefits it unlocks.