Consenting Adults

This article discusses a Dutch sex worker who services men with cognitive disabilities such as Down’s Syndrome. I’m not sure how I feel about this. I’m glad this individual recognizes that people with disabilities have sexual desires, but the article makes it sound like some of her clients are so severely disabled that they can’t express any meaningful form of consent. That concerns me. I think consent is a critical aspect of any sexual act. And what if the sex worker was a man and the clients were women? Would that change the dynamics of this transaction?
I’m also a little troubled by this quote from the article:
Obviously, only a small minority of the disabled can find suitable [sexual] partners. The others lack social skills, lack access to potential partners, aren’t intelligent enough to initiate or maintain a relationship, are physically disfigured, or cannot move. Hence the need for services of prostitutes.
Hell, lots of people without disabilities lack social skills and they still seem to find sexual partners. Having a disability shouldn’t automatically imply the need for a prostitute. I don’t have a problem with prostitution per se, but sex is just as much about intimacy as physical release. This article seems to imply that people with disabilities aren’t capable of experiencing intimacy.
Then again, what the hell do I know? The way my own love life has been stagnating, in another year or two I may be planning an extended vacation to Amsterdam.