Did you know that the World Health Organisation deems sexual pleasure as a ‘fundamental human right’? Enjoying sex is so important, yet many people with disabilities around the world are unable to partake due to various limitations.
That’s where brother-sister duo Andrew Gurza and Heather Morrison are seriously shaking things up. They’ve joined forces on Handi – the world’s first line of sex toys that don’t require the use of your hands, designed for and by people with disabilities.
We spoke to Andrew and Heather about Handi on the most recent episode of It’s Been A Big Day For… but before we got into the idea behind hands-free pleasure, we spoke at length about the taboos surrounding sex and people with disabilities. Listen below:
“It’s a really taboo topic,” Heather said. “When you think of masturbation in general, people get uncomfortable. Nobody really likes to talk about it.”
Andrew, who is a Disability Awareness Consultant, Content Creator, Keynote speaker, said, “it’s so strange, because if I had that experience – where they don’t want to talk about it, and I’ve had the experience when you’re doing something non-sexual, in an elevator going to a job interview, and someone will be like, ‘so, do your genitals work?’”
“We need to find ways of having that conversation that isn’t hurting the disabled person or making them feel weird, while giving space to the non-disabled person who might want to know,” he added.
As for the most common misconceptions about sexual pleasure and people with disabilities, Andrew said, “it’s that we don’t want to have sex, and that we can’t have sex.”
He also said there’s a misconception that “because we’re disabled therefore we’re deemed asexual, and that we don’t have a sexuality. We should be fighting for accessibility and ramps, elevators and buttons, but how dare we say ‘I also want to fight for the right to get off.’”
Andrew also said that there are disabled people who are worried they will lose support and care if they bring up their desire for sexual satisfaction. He said it feels like, “if we talk about this too loudly, people might feel uncomfortable to give us the basic tenants of our care.”
“If you’re not living with a disability, or with someone who is, you’ve probably never thought about it – and that’s absolutely fine,” Heather said. “A big part of what we’re trying to do at Handi is put this on people’s radar…and start to break down that taboo.”
During our chat with Andrew and Heather, we also spoke about the mental and physical benefits of masturbation and how you can embrace self-pleasure on World Masturbation Day, which just so happens to be today, Thursday 28th of March.
Their advice? “Take some time out for yourself, for your own body and sexuality. If that’s currently not in reach for you, try talking about it with somebody – what are your frustrations, what brings you happiness when you masturbate?”
Andrew and Heather also encouraged people to visit Handi’s social pages to join the conversation and register interest for Handi sex toys at their official website.
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