Mental Capacity Law, Sexual Relationships, and Intimacy
Edited by Beverley Clough and Laura Pritchard-Jones
ISBN
978-1529235623Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressISBN
978-1529235630Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University Press
Mental Capacity Law, Sexual Relationships, and Intimacy
Questions as to the mental capacity of an individual to consent to sex are an increasingly important aspect of legal scholarship and professional practice for those working in care. Recent case law has added new layers of complexity, requiring that a person must be able to understand that the other person needs to consent and can withdraw that consent. While this has been welcomed for asserting the importance of the interpersonal dynamics of sex, it has significant implications for practice and for the day-to-day lives of people with cognitive impairments.
This collection brings together academics, practitioners and organisations to consider the challenges posed by the current legal framework, and future directions for law, policy and practice.
Beverley Clough is Professor of Law and Social Justice at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Laura Pritchard-Jones is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Keele University.
Foreword – Dr Margaret Flynn and Kirsty Keywood
Introduction – Dr Beverley Clough and Dr Laura Pritchard-Jones
Part I: Legal and Policy Trajectories
1. Historical Perspectives on the Legal Regulation of Sexual Relationships and Intimacy by Reference to Mental Capacity – Professor Ralph Sandland
2. Capacity and sexual consent - a question should never have been asked? – Alex Ruck Keene, Allegra Enefer and Alan Cusack
3. Capacity to Consent to Sex: Analysing the Boundaries Between Civil and Criminal Law – Dr Jaime Lindsey and Dr Karen Brennan
4. Reflections – Claire Bates
Part II: Challenges in Practice and Future Directions
5. Where is the love? Promoting a person-centred, relational and rights-based approach to social work practice in the context of mental capacity, sexual relationships and intimacy – Dr Hannah Morgan & Becky Squires
6. “I just felt that I was just somebody who was there to be abused”: Disabled rape victim-survivors talk about their journeys towards realisation – Dr Andrea Hollomotz & Leah Burch
7. Dementia, Sexuality, and the Law – Dr Oluwatoyin Sorinmade and Carmelle Peisah
8. Nifty Shades of Grey – Neil Allen
9. Reflections – Lorraine Currie
Conclusions – Dr Beverley Clough and Dr Laura Pritchard-Jones
