Personal Assistants’ Role in Disabled People’s Possibility to Exercise Their Sexual Citizenship: A Cross-Sectional Study

Many disabled people cannot live out their sexuality or exercise their sexual citizenship without assistance. There is a lack of knowledge concerning how to support sexual citizenship when living with a disability and receiving personal assistance services while also providing safe working conditions for personal assistants. This study presents personal assistants’ experiences and attitudes toward assisting with sexual facilitation and assisting disabled people in exercising their sexual citizenship in the Norwegian context. A cross-sectional survey was answered by 91 personal assistants in Norway. Results showed that 61% believed the disabled person would feel uncomfortable if the personal assistants were to speak about sexuality or sexual facilitation. Only 14% of the personal assistants had received guidance from their employer, the service provider. As many as 81% believed it is essential that providers of personal assistance services offer training on topics concerning sexuality, including sexual citizenship. The lack of policy and guidelines was found to be a barrier for personal assistants.