Prostitutes on Wheels
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5365183-102275,00.html
Torben the Dane demands a very social service
Alex Duval Smith in Aarhus
Sunday January 1, 2006
Many people would agree with Torben Vegener Hansen's views on sex. 'It makes me feel good. It makes me more dynamic. Having sex is as important as food.' But it is his insistence that sex is 'a human right' that has led him into a legal battle with his government.
Vegener Hansen, 59, who has cerebral palsy, is fighting to force the Danish state to subsidise visits to his home by prostitutes in the same way they would pay for a meals-on-wheels service.
'Denmark's social law provides for me to be compensated for the expenses I incur because of my handicap,' he said. 'It should therefore cover my right to a sex life.'
Vegener Hansen, a former social worker, lives alone in an adapted one-bedroom flat. He travels about Aarhus city centre using an electric wheelchair. The local council pays for him to receive 37 hours' practical help every week. His speech is impaired but he uses the phone and internet.
'I need to have sex to feel like a normal human being,' he says over coffee and biscuits. 'I have a girlfriend at the moment so I do not need to see prostitutes. But if I didn't have Vivia I would want sex at least twice a month.'
Prostitution is legal in Denmark, so Vegener Hansen argues his local authority unfairly made a moral judgment when it rejected his application for financial support to bring prostitutes to his flat. If a social appeal board finds in his favour later this month, all Danish councils will have to obey the ruling.
Since 2001, Denmark's social service guidelines on disability have stipulated that care staff in institutions must be prepared to help disabled people obtain sex. That includes accompanying them to a prostitute.
Arranging sex is part of the job for staff at the Hulegaarden residential home for mental disability near Copenhagen. Its director, Lars Nielsen, said: 'We have many hours of discussion, in groups, before actually doing so. It is clear that there is no human being who is not also a sexual being. If we do not allow disabled people to have the experience of sex, we cannot expect them to build up their lives.
'The social workers who accompany people to prostitutes receive their salary from Hulegaarden. In that respect, you can argue that Danish society is already paying for the practice.'
But Nielsen is uncomfortable about Vegener Hansen's campaign because it affects two marginalised groups, prostitutes and disabled people. 'Prostitution has been decriminalised since 1999. This has made life a lot safer for prostitutes and has taken most of them off the streets. But that could change. Decriminalisation remains controversial. Left-wing feminists are united with the religious right in their opposition to it. I think Vegener Hansen's campaign is dangerous.'
Vegener Hansen's 46-year-old girlfriend Vivia, who does not want to reveal her surname, opposes him. 'I think it is important that the sex lives of disabled people be discussed, she said. 'But I am against all forms of prostitution and think that, sometimes, you have to accept your destiny.'
Vegener Hansen has heard a wide range of arguments since he began his campaign. 'One man wrote to the local newspaper and said I was just a horny guy. After that, a prostitute phoned me and said she would support me if I took my case to the European court.
'The thing is, according to surveys, only about 15 per cent of men go to prostitutes. So it is not as though society will face financial ruin if I win. As disabled people, we are constantly told not to be passive and to fight for our needs. That is what I am doing.'
Torben the Dane demands a very social service
Alex Duval Smith in Aarhus
Sunday January 1, 2006
Many people would agree with Torben Vegener Hansen's views on sex. 'It makes me feel good. It makes me more dynamic. Having sex is as important as food.' But it is his insistence that sex is 'a human right' that has led him into a legal battle with his government.
Vegener Hansen, 59, who has cerebral palsy, is fighting to force the Danish state to subsidise visits to his home by prostitutes in the same way they would pay for a meals-on-wheels service.
'Denmark's social law provides for me to be compensated for the expenses I incur because of my handicap,' he said. 'It should therefore cover my right to a sex life.'
Vegener Hansen, a former social worker, lives alone in an adapted one-bedroom flat. He travels about Aarhus city centre using an electric wheelchair. The local council pays for him to receive 37 hours' practical help every week. His speech is impaired but he uses the phone and internet.
'I need to have sex to feel like a normal human being,' he says over coffee and biscuits. 'I have a girlfriend at the moment so I do not need to see prostitutes. But if I didn't have Vivia I would want sex at least twice a month.'
Prostitution is legal in Denmark, so Vegener Hansen argues his local authority unfairly made a moral judgment when it rejected his application for financial support to bring prostitutes to his flat. If a social appeal board finds in his favour later this month, all Danish councils will have to obey the ruling.
Since 2001, Denmark's social service guidelines on disability have stipulated that care staff in institutions must be prepared to help disabled people obtain sex. That includes accompanying them to a prostitute.
Arranging sex is part of the job for staff at the Hulegaarden residential home for mental disability near Copenhagen. Its director, Lars Nielsen, said: 'We have many hours of discussion, in groups, before actually doing so. It is clear that there is no human being who is not also a sexual being. If we do not allow disabled people to have the experience of sex, we cannot expect them to build up their lives.
'The social workers who accompany people to prostitutes receive their salary from Hulegaarden. In that respect, you can argue that Danish society is already paying for the practice.'
But Nielsen is uncomfortable about Vegener Hansen's campaign because it affects two marginalised groups, prostitutes and disabled people. 'Prostitution has been decriminalised since 1999. This has made life a lot safer for prostitutes and has taken most of them off the streets. But that could change. Decriminalisation remains controversial. Left-wing feminists are united with the religious right in their opposition to it. I think Vegener Hansen's campaign is dangerous.'
Vegener Hansen's 46-year-old girlfriend Vivia, who does not want to reveal her surname, opposes him. 'I think it is important that the sex lives of disabled people be discussed, she said. 'But I am against all forms of prostitution and think that, sometimes, you have to accept your destiny.'
Vegener Hansen has heard a wide range of arguments since he began his campaign. 'One man wrote to the local newspaper and said I was just a horny guy. After that, a prostitute phoned me and said she would support me if I took my case to the European court.
'The thing is, according to surveys, only about 15 per cent of men go to prostitutes. So it is not as though society will face financial ruin if I win. As disabled people, we are constantly told not to be passive and to fight for our needs. That is what I am doing.'