Conference “Reflections on the sexuality of women with disabilities. Validism and pleasure”. By Raquel Latorre (University of Almería)
On September 26, ERIGAL and IREF (Institut de recherches et d'études féministes) organized the conference “Reflections on the sexuality of disabled women. Validism and pleasure”, by Raquel Latorre Martínez, from the University of Almería. The conference took place at UQAM (room R-3540).
Raquel Latorre, sociologist and specialist in sex education, addressed the issue of the sexuality of disabled women, traditionally ignored in social and academic debates. She pointed out that the sexuality of disabled women has been read and interpreted on the basis of infantilization and paternalism, delegitimizing sexuality in interaction with disability. Women with disabilities, for their part, are subject to sexist pressures and beauty standards that play a fundamental role in how they perceive themselves and how they are perceived by others. Latorre stressed that when talking about women's sexuality and disability, it is inevitable to mention violence, as the prevalence of any form of violence is higher among disabled women than among non-disabled women.
Finally, Raquel Latorre stressed that it is difficult to talk about sexuality and pleasure without violence or fear being present, which reinforces a discourse that is distant from sexual practices or an overprotective discourse that does not allow the creation of safe spaces to talk about sexuality and pleasure.
The conference was ultimately an opportunity to reflect on and discuss how the sexuality of women with disabilities is defined in the collective imagination, taking into account intersectional differences and the heterogeneity that exists in experiences of disability, which do not have the same impact on all women.
Raquel Latorre Martínez is a sociologist at the University of Granada and a sexologist at the University of Almería. She also holds a university extension diploma on « l'éducation sexuelle complète : sa pertinence dans les établissements d'enseignement » from the National University of San Luis (Argentina). She has carried out research at the Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales de Gino Germani in Buenos Aires and at the Centre de Recherches Sociologiques et Politiques (CRESPPA) in Paris.
