At Chaseley Trust, a British nursing facility housed in a resplendent mansion, residents can avail of everything from a gym to a movie theater. Occasionally, the nursing home also invites strippers and prostitutes to provide their services to residents.
The local East Sussex County Council has launched an investigation into the nursing home's unorthodox practice, which has sparked a debate over the rights of the disabled as well as the role of sex in assisted living facilities.
While detractors feel this has the potential to place residents at risk of abuse and exploitation, facility workers claim that not having the strippers and prostitutes actually increases the chances of their being sexually harrassed by the residents, some of whom are still in their teens and have neurological problems.
Chaseley asserts that the move is their way of trying to meet their residents' needs -- whether sexual or otherwise. It also allows Chaseley's staff to feel some piece of mind. By not having to worry about being groped on the job, they can enjoy their jobs and no longer feel compelled to resign.
My take: This is the first time I have ever heard of a nursing facility offering strippers and prostitutes to residents. My first thought while reading this was: What do the residents' family members have to say about this? How about residents who themselves may be opposed to what the facility is doing?
I understand the staff's concerns as far as the residents touching them inappropriately, but that can happen anywhere, really. Surely there must be a better way to keep them in check. Give porn and adult magazines a try, maybe?
What side of the debate are you on?
The local East Sussex County Council has launched an investigation into the nursing home's unorthodox practice, which has sparked a debate over the rights of the disabled as well as the role of sex in assisted living facilities.
While detractors feel this has the potential to place residents at risk of abuse and exploitation, facility workers claim that not having the strippers and prostitutes actually increases the chances of their being sexually harrassed by the residents, some of whom are still in their teens and have neurological problems.
Chaseley asserts that the move is their way of trying to meet their residents' needs -- whether sexual or otherwise. It also allows Chaseley's staff to feel some piece of mind. By not having to worry about being groped on the job, they can enjoy their jobs and no longer feel compelled to resign.
My take: This is the first time I have ever heard of a nursing facility offering strippers and prostitutes to residents. My first thought while reading this was: What do the residents' family members have to say about this? How about residents who themselves may be opposed to what the facility is doing?
I understand the staff's concerns as far as the residents touching them inappropriately, but that can happen anywhere, really. Surely there must be a better way to keep them in check. Give porn and adult magazines a try, maybe?
What side of the debate are you on?
Comments
1. Staff
2. All residents
3. Disabled residents
4. Friends and family of residents
5. Strippers and prostitutes
The staff problem of sexual harassment is a workplace health and safety concern that should be taken to The Board of Trustees to be combatted using known i dustry techniques and standards.
All residents will not feel the same about this issue. We can and should expect a very diverse range of opinions. These opinions should be formally acknowledged and on file.
Disabled residents will also have diverse opinions. Some may feel utterly insulted that their disability excludes them from freely given and recieved mutual live and affection within a monogamous relationship. The insinuation is a form of bigotry on the part of able-bodied and able-minded people. We're also not just talking about disabled 'people' here. We're only talking about disabled male residents. These 'services' are a form of sexism.As would porn be.
Friends and family, particularly next of kin which include partners parents and children who may be legally and emotionally responsible, have the right to a say in this. Again,there is a need to formally document opinion.
And now, the industry itself. We know that approximately 80% of the industry is trafficked victims and this year had the highest percentage of traffick victims in recorded history. We also know that less than ten percent of adult industry workers claim the job as a freely made choice with which they are happy doing. This leaves a ten plus percent grey area. These women and girls say if they could leave they would. Over ninety percent of the industry is women and girls. The under ten percent left is made up predominantly of transwomen and underage boys. There is mo way to engage in this industry without supporting the most obvious form of misogyny and violence in the world. One simply cannot guarantee that the girls that turn up are doing so by free will. In documented cases of traficking and coercion women have been asked if they ever asked for help from clients. Most had. Frighteningly this resulted in them being forced to do the job anyway and to face punishment when the client reported their experience to the manager.