It is not uncommon for families to employ sex workers to satisfy the sexual urges of intellectually impaired people, Independent Nursing Practice director Annette Milligan says.
She was commenting on claims that six workers, employed by a company contracted by the Ministry of Health to provide disability support services to about 45 people in the Nelson region, were ordered to help intellectually impaired people in their care to masturbate.
The company which employed the six women, New Zealand Care, denied the claims but confirmed it was investigating them.
Nelson MP Nick Smith yesterday said he had lodged an official complaint with Health Minister David Cunliffe and was seeking an independent inquiry into the issue.
"The allegations are so awful that it is difficult to believe they are true. I found all six women to be honest, genuine and totally believable," Dr Smith said.
Ms Milligan said intellectually impaired people ran a huge risk of falling prey to sexual predators - a problem compounded by how difficult they were to educate about sex.
Five former support workers for New Zealand Care, and one current worker, told the Nelson Mail there was no way they could have misunderstood the contracted trainer, relationship and sexuality consultant Claire Ryan, and have supplied written statements outlining their claims.
Ms Milligan said it was more likely that the women misunderstood Ms Ryan.
But she said the issue opened up the misunderstood area of sexuality among intellectually impaired people.
Because they were often unaware of social boundaries, sexually mature intellectually impaired people became easy prey for sexual predators, with some estimates showing that up to 80 percent of Down syndrome patients had been sexually violated, she said.
She told the newspaper many parents in the Nelson region had their intellectually impaired children on strong contraceptives to, if not stop sexual abuse, at least stop unwanted pregnancies.
The intellectually disabled needed to be trained in how to deal with their sexuality discreetly, to help avoid sexual abuse.
This included the issue of when masturbation was appropriate, and how relatives, caregivers and others dealt with it, as well as training for the intellectually impaired themselves.
Ms Milligan said it was not uncommon for sex workers to be employed, usually paid for by the family.
