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Jan Walmsley: who really benefits

from contraception?

The history of contraception over the years shows that
women’s sexual health, reproductive rights and protection
from abuse have never been priorities

t’s great that people with sterilisation but there is no taken advantage of. We do not
learning disabilities now doubt it was widely practised. know how many women are taking
officially have rights to a I once interviewed a couple contraception for these reasons
family and relationships. who in 1970 had asked their GP – we should.
Historically, this has if their daughter, then 20, could What’s the message here?
been a fraught issue. be sterilised. She never forgave At no time has the sexual health
I The policy motivator them for taking away her ability of women with learning disabilities
until the mid-20th century to have kids. been the primary concern.
was fear that the “feeble But, they asked, what were Many would prefer it if women
minded” would have more they to do? She liked sex, with learning disabilities do not
children than others, leading and they did not want the become mothers. But the issue is
to “a terrible danger to the responsibility for helping her bigger than a neglect of women’s
race”, as Winston Churchill bring up children. desire to become parents.
wrote to prime minister In Know Me As I Am, a 1990 It extends to a failure to protect
HH Asquith in 1910. anthology by people with from abuse, from sexually
At the time, there were two learning disabilities, one transmitted disease and from
ways to prevent people from contributor said: “People like unwanted (by the woman herself)
having children – keeping the us don’t have babies. No one at pregnancies. It’s a failure to provide
sexes apart or sterilisation. Fitting a long-acting the centre does apart from support for women to have
In the UK, segregation was contraceptive staff. Some people have their whatever safe and physically and
adopted; involuntary sterilisation implant: women stomachs taken out.” emotionally rewarding sexual
with learning
was never formally sanctioned. In disabilities are far Today, women with learning relationships they choose. It’s a
institutions, men and women met more likely to have disabilities are nearly four times as failure to help draw boundaries to
only when supervised by staff. such devices fitted likely to use long-acting reversible protect women from exploitation.
Many people remained outside than others contraception (LARC) as other Related to this is the lack of
these institutions. What of them? women – a rate of 46% versus 12%, support for well-woman issues –
I was shocked to find government according to Public Health England. puberty, menstruation and
forms from the 1930s that asked What little research has been menopause – to say nothing of
officials checking up on those living done indicates these women are poor diagnosis and treatment for
with families: “Is it considered that prescribed LARC (or other gynaecological conditions and
the control available would suffice non-barrier methods such as the female-specific cancers.
to prevent the defective from pill) at a younger age than others, The manager of a residential
procreating children?” If the answer stay on them for longer and, home once told me she was
was no, placing them in an astonishingly, remain on them shocked that residents were not
institution would be considered. even if not sexually active. Reasons allowed out of their rooms between
The pill was a game changer. offered include “to manage 10pm and 7am. Nowhere was this
Institution staff made sure women menstruation” or in case they are written down – it’s just what
took it (many patients were probably happened until she changed it.
When I asked about overnight
unaware what it was for) and could
Jacqui Brown/Flickr CC BY SA 2.0 relationships between patients. Related to this is the lack of support for that families had a lot of interest and
feel permissive about heterosexual
visitors, she said yes – then added
staff would have to check with them.
However, people in the
well-woman issues – to say nothing of
History tells us that looking at the
community could not be relied
poor diagnosis and treatment for
policy is not enough. We need to
upon to take the pill. The
female-specific conditions and cancers
government refused to officially
look beyond what people say they do
countenance involuntary
Community Living winter 2023 vol 36 no 2 and at what actually happens. n 23