Problem
According to a study conducted in January 2020 in Poland by the Avalon Foundation, people with disabilities often experience exclusion and discrimination around sex and parenthood. Society often disregards and sometimes even denies their needs. Half of all respondents felt psychological or physical barriers in meeting their sexual needs, and as many as 36% of the respondents had experienced a situation in which they heard that the topic of sex and sexuality did not concern them due to their disabilities.
Organisation
The Avalon Foundation is a Polish non-governmental organisation that has been working for people with disabilities and the chronically ill since 2006. The organisation was founded by Bożena and Sebastian Luty.
The aim of the organisation is to help people with disabilities and the chronically ill by changing how they are perceived both by society and themselves. The organisation helps to fulfil the dreams and plans of its beneficiaries by organising activities aimed to improve the quality of their lives, increase their independence, and eliminate social barriers between people with disabilities and those without.
The Foundation carries out many projects that aim to show that people with disabilities can be active, independent and successful people. One of the projects, ‘Avalon Extreme’, encourages people with disabilities to practice extreme sports, thus showing that sport is available to everybody, and everyone can achieve their goals. Sport is also promoted within the active rehabilitation project ‘Avalon Active’, in which in addition to traditional classes with a physiotherapist, elements from a diverse range of sports are included (e.g. martial arts, cross training, skating or Zumba). In addition, the organisation runs initiatives where its beneficiaries can help and support each other in making their dreams come true. For this purpose, beneficiaries are also encouraged to set up a dedicated sub-account for collecting individual donations (e.g., 1% of tax).
Project
We are partnering with the Avalon Foundation on the Sexon project, which aims to help people with motor disabilities by empowering them in matters related to their intimate life and parenthood.
As part of the project, we will organise:
- an educational platform with an interactive map of gynaecological surgeries and birthing schools adapted to people with disabilities;
- a two-day conference on sex and parenthood of people with disabilities;
- an exhibition of photos presenting people with disabilities, their families and partners;
- interviews presenting the life of people with disabilities and conversations with specialists: gynaecologists, psychologists, physiotherapists;
- webinars and training with specialists.
