March in Taipei calls for sexual rights for people with disabilities

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Around 200 people, including about 20 using wheelchairs, came together for a march in Taipei on Saturday to raise awareness of the sexual rights of people with disabilities and advocate for increased accessibility in Taiwan.

Organized by the group Hand Angel, the two-hour march began at Taipei Cinema Park and ended outside the Control Yuan, where the group's representatives submitted a petition urging the government to take action to protect the rights of people with disabilities.

Amid chants of "I want to make love, no more waiting," Lin Che-fan (林哲凡), one of the marchers, told CNA that the barriers to sexual rights for people with disabilities extend beyond sexual activity, encompassing "all aspects of exploration in intimate relationships."

As a member of Hand Angel and a wheelchair user, Lin cited the lack of barrier-free facilities in Taiwan as one of the major obstacles, explaining that it prevents people like him from dating.

The inadequate accessible infrastructure in society limits the participation in social activities, access to restaurants or bars, and options to find suitable transportation, he said.

Jing Lee, an adviser at Hand Angel, said society has long ignored the sexual needs of people with disabilities. She said the group had organized two rallies in 2018 and 2019, and "five years have passed but the government has been doing nothing."

It is almost impossible for wheelchair users to go on a date at a movie theater, as most cinemas in Taiwan either lack accessible seating or only provide it in the front row, she said.

If a disabled person's partner is an able-bodied person, they would have to sit separately at the cinema, she said.

"But a cinema, as we all know, it's a very important place for people to date (and sit next to each other)," she said.

Asked how people can support Hand Angel, which connects people with disabilities to sex volunteers for assistance with their sexual needs through masturbation, the 30-year-old said many mistakenly believe they need to "do the hand job to disabled people" to support the organization.

"It's not true because we, Hand Angel, believe that as long as you are friendly, or as long as you don't criticize (disabled) people with this (sexual) desire, you are part of Hand Angel," she said.

According to the organizer, around 200 people joined the march, including 47-year-old Scottish participant Andrew Thomson, who described the event as "marvelous."

He said that back in his home country, "we have nothing like this."

Thomson, who works as an administrator in a social care charity in Scotland, said he arrived in Taiwan on Saturday for a two-week exchange program for social care workers from around the world, organized by the Council of International Fellowship, Taiwan.

The topic of sexual rights for people with disabilities is "almost a taboo subject" in Scotland, attributing it to the culture as Scots "don't talk about sex a lot," and disabled groups there also "don't talk about that," Thomson said.

"We need to have the conversation in society because disabled people have rights ... and that includes sexual rights," he said.