People with cerebral palsy experience the same range of sexual thoughts, attitudes, and feelings as anyone else. All people, including those with CP, have the right to enjoy relationships and sex. Every person has the right to say what happens to their body and to feel safe.
When it comes to sexual activity, it’s important that everyone involved gives consent. If you consent to something, it means you agree to it, you’re giving permission, you’re saying it’s okay for someone to do something. At My CP Guide, we have put together a video to help people better understand consent and healthy relationships.
What’s in the video?
The consent and healthy relationships video provides information about:
• What is consent?
• What is legal within Australia when it comes to consent?
• Consent can be withdrawn, and is always required for everyone
• Being pressured to say yes or not understanding is not consent
Relationships and sexual activity should be enjoyable for all parties, and for this reason, consent should be genuine and enthusiastic. This is true for all bodies, sexual orientations, gender identities and abilities. Everyone involved should understand what’s happening, agree on what is and isn’t okay, and respect each other’s decisions.
External Content
What does this mean?
We've sourced this content from a third party. At the time we published this, we decided it was useful and valuable information.
Because we aren't in control of the original file, we aren't able to guarantee the quality of the content will always be up to our standards.
Our video is also available in the following languages on our YouTube channel :
- Arabic
- Chinese Simplified
- Hindi
- Italian
- Vietnamese
Who should I speak to if I need help
If you need someone to talk to about sex and consent but don’t know who, reach out to a doctor or healthcare professional. Your GP, a social worker or a psychologist can provide information about consent, safety, protective behaviours, relationships, sexual well-being and self-esteem.
There are also services that you can access for support, online or by phone. One such website is Ask Izzy. Ask Izzy connects people in need or in crisis with health services, support, counselling and much more. You can access Ask Izzy here.
On the My CP Guide site, we have a section of information resources dedicated to relationships, which includes sexual relationships. You can find the Relationships section of our website here. We also have resources dedicated to Sexual and Reproductive health, which can be found here. All resources on our website can be filtered down to your relevant life stage.