| Summary: |
Sexual assistance - activity in which professionals provide sexual services to people with disabilities [12] - is a pioneering research topic in Portugal. At the European level there are associations that promote sexual assistance in several countries and in some of them it is a recognized service [15]. In Portugal there is no association created for this purpose. However, sex workers provide sex services to clients with disabilities [16]. To address the interest of some people with physical disabilities in resorting to sexual assistance [14], the research team, whom has a vast experience in the study of different axes of social oppression, identified the need to understand social representations of Portuguese population concerning sexual assistance and to start an informed debate in order to outline public policy recommendations. Therefore, the present research project was developed and includes 6 tasks and 2 phases.
The first task is literature review and aims to explore the definitions and models of sexual assistance. This task will occur until the end of the project in order to feed
digital platforms with the most recent scientific knowledge.
In the first phase, it is intended to understand the conceptualization of people with disabilities and sex workers about sexual assistance and to develop an instrument to analyze the ideas and the acceptance of Portuguese population concerning the knowledge produced by these interest groups. Thus, two tasks will be carried out: T2 - interviews with populations of interest (people with physical disabilities and sex workers) and T3 - construction of a questionnaire. In T2, a qualitative approach will be used. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted until theoretical saturation is reached [5]. The narratives collected at this stage will be analyzed through thematic analysis [2]. A consensual definition of sexual assistance and a model adjusted to the Portuguese context is expected as a result  |
Summary
Sexual assistance - activity in which professionals provide sexual services to people with disabilities [12] - is a pioneering research topic in Portugal. At the European level there are associations that promote sexual assistance in several countries and in some of them it is a recognized service [15]. In Portugal there is no association created for this purpose. However, sex workers provide sex services to clients with disabilities [16]. To address the interest of some people with physical disabilities in resorting to sexual assistance [14], the research team, whom has a vast experience in the study of different axes of social oppression, identified the need to understand social representations of Portuguese population concerning sexual assistance and to start an informed debate in order to outline public policy recommendations. Therefore, the present research project was developed and includes 6 tasks and 2 phases.
The first task is literature review and aims to explore the definitions and models of sexual assistance. This task will occur until the end of the project in order to feed
digital platforms with the most recent scientific knowledge.
In the first phase, it is intended to understand the conceptualization of people with disabilities and sex workers about sexual assistance and to develop an instrument to analyze the ideas and the acceptance of Portuguese population concerning the knowledge produced by these interest groups. Thus, two tasks will be carried out: T2 - interviews with populations of interest (people with physical disabilities and sex workers) and T3 - construction of a questionnaire. In T2, a qualitative approach will be used. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted until theoretical saturation is reached [5]. The narratives collected at this stage will be analyzed through thematic analysis [2]. A consensual definition of sexual assistance and a model adjusted to the Portuguese context is expected as a result. In T3, a quantitative approach will be used in order to develop an adequate instrument that allows the analysis of social representations of Portuguese population concerning the knowledge produced in T2.
In the second phase, the research team intends to understand social representations about sexual assistance services and the potential application of the questionnaire in different contexts. Thus, two tasks will be carried out: T4 - inquiry of different groups of the Portuguese population through a questionnaire and T5 - application of the online questionnaire in Brazil. Based on a quantitative methodology, the data will be analyzed using SPSS [4]. It is expected to observe greater acceptance of sexual assistance services when participants have higher levels of education and lower religious beliefs. Furthermore, it is expected to perceive the existence of similarities in the Brazilian context, given the legal framework of sex work in Brazil and Portugal [15; 19].
Finally, T6 - dissemination of results aims to share information to promote an informed public debate about sexual assistance. This stage will involve the development of products and actions that will target different audiences, such as scientific community, public policy makers, groups of sex workers and people with disabilities, and general public, through digital platforms.
The project, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3 and 5, is s an important contribution to assess social representations of Portuguese population regarding sexual assistance and, consequently, promote a debate that contribute to recommendations of public policies. |