So that headline isn’t exactly something you come across every day, you’re probably a little taken aback. Don’t worry you’re not alone, let’s flesh this one out then and see what all the fuss is about.

A Johannesburg father has attracted attention for his comments that he has been masturbating his 29-year-old son, diagnosed with cerebral palsy as an infant, for the past 11 years. He has defended his actions by saying that along with the mental well-being of his child he also needs to attend to his sexual needs and health. TimesLive quotes the father below:

In addition to the daily feeding and physical physiotherapy, as well as the mental stimulation that I provide my son, I am also aware of the sexual feelings of my son, indicated to me by my son’s various behavioural means, such as an erect penis when I am changing or bathing him,” the father said.

This hasn’t sat well with everyone, one of the most outspoken critics being the Teddy Bear Clinic for Abused Children’s Dr. Shaheda Omar. She believes that the father could be charged under an amended Sexual Offences law because his son is unable to give consent:

“If the father’s intention is to relieve his son from pain, he needs to work closely with a multidisciplinary team on managing his son’s pain and explore other possibilities,” said Omar.

She said the father masturbating his son was “problematic” as this amounted to “self-soothing behaviour”.

Others have waded into the argument by saying that the sexual rights of disabled people in South Africa is something of a ‘grey area’, including social worker Dr Marlene de Beer:

[She] argued that where someone had been taking care of a severely disabled person for a long time, consent might be communicated using nuances difficult for outsiders to see.

“Although we have a constitution that promotes the rights of people with disabilities it hasn’t dealt with sexual rights,” De Beer said.

So where do you stand on the matter? It’s difficult to avoid coming across as crass when discussing matters such as these, especially considering the fact that the large majority of us will never be put in a similar position to the father in question.

Perhaps this is a mass debate best left to the experts.

[source:timeslive]