Charity bid to lift disabled sex taboo (From Oxford Mail)

Charity bid to lift disabled sex taboo

7:00am Thursday 19th August 2010 in News By Amanda Williams

Lucy and Otto Baxter

THE mother of a man with Down’s syndrome is setting up a charity so disabled people can use prostitutes.

Otto Baxter, 23, from Steventon, was so desperate to lose his virginity he appeared in a TV show last March in his quest to find a girlfriend.

His mother, Lucy, then hit headlines when she said she would pay for her disabled son to use a sex worker if it was what he really wanted to do.

After looking into the idea, Mr Baxter has now decided to wait until he has a long-term girlfriend before losing his virginity.

But Ms Baxter, who believes having a disability should be no barrier to having sex, has vowed to make it possible for other people with long-term disabilities to pay for sex.

Ms Baxter, 50, who adopted Otto when he was a baby, said: “We’ve decided to set up an independent charity so we can fundraise for disabled people so they can see a prostitute.”

Ms Baxter thinks similar services could be funded with government money – albeit indirectly to avoid the likely controversy.

She said: “If there’s such an outcry about disabled people spending government money for this, then why not set up a charity and give them money to do what they want with?

“I think sexual assistants should be paid for by the NHS, as in Australia and Germany.

“For example, somebody might have been involved in a car accident and have been used to a very loving close relationship, but have suddenly lost that link.

“Often the only contact with another human is when they’re having their bottom wiped and that’s hugely degrading.”

Ms Baxter was speaking after national newspapers revealed a 21-year-old man with learning disabilities had visited a prostitute in Amsterdam, a trip paid for with government money.

Mr Baxter, an actor who has appeared in several films and plays, is still being filmed for an Australian documentary.

He said he would welcome the charity, and added: “I think it’s a great idea.”

As part of the programme, the documentary makers organised for a sex worker to visit Mr Baxter in May.

She told Ms Baxter getting a prostitute in England was as simple as “phoning up and ordering a pizza”.

Ms Baxter came up with the idea to launch a charity to pay for “sexual assistants” for disabled people with Bobbie Nuciforo, Otto’s personal assistant.

Miss Nuciforo said: “Like any other 23-year-old man, he’d like a girlfriend and experience all the things that come with that.”

Ms Baxter and Ms Nuciforo want to hear from anyone who can help with the charity – email them via email to awilliams@oxfordmail.co.uk