A charity in Taiwan is offering sexual services to the disabled, highlighting a small but growing global trend.
The non-profit, known as Hand Angel, is run by “Vincent,” who is confined to a wheelchair and has been unable to use his legs since he was a child, when he was stricken with polio.
The charity essentially offers, for lack of a better term, handjobs to people who lack the physical ability to either engage in sexual activity with a partner or fulfill their own sexual needs.
Those might include someone without hands or arms, or an individual with several mobility problems.
“I’ve had a difficult life journey,” “Vincent” told BBC News in this video on his charity.
“That’s why whenever I see disabled people like me, I feel for them, I see myself in them. That’s why I want to do this,” he said.
Based in Taiwan, the organization’s name is perhaps self-explanatory.
“Our most basic service is to help our client, whether they are male or female, to mastrubate,” he said.
“It’s a complete process, from touching the person to helping them reach orgasm,” he said.
“There are people out there who can’t move their hands. Even if they can use their hands, they might not be able to experience enjoyable sex acts,” he said.
In one interview, one client told BBC news that they were “satisfied.”
Taiwan has around a million disabled citizens, and their needs are well taken care of in a healthcare system that has received accolades for providing thorough care for its disabled population.
While the organization has only serviced a small number of clients, the issue underscores a trend seen in multiple countries.
In Barcelona, Spain, a group called Tandem connects disabled people with volunteers, much like a dating agency. One group member said what most clients are looking for is intimacy, and have a desire to feel attractive and to satisfy the needs of others.
A group in Japan, called White Hands, provides what the group’s English-language website calls “ejaculation help,” in a process that seems to more resemble a medical procedure or therapy session than sex. Providers keep their clothes on and wear rubber gloves, a condom is used and there is no touching other than a hand job.
The group’s website shows a map of Japan with stars dotting over a dozen locations where the service was used. The website claims to have serviced nearly 300 patients since February 2012, in 18 prefectures.
Describing the procedure, the website said “Care staff, wipe the genital area with a towel wrung in hot water. Then, the genital area is kept clean.”
“Then, care staff does a massage using lotion around the genital area. As soon as getting better blood circulation around the genital area, erection has been confirmed, with a condom, go to the assistance of ejaculation,” according to White Hands’ website.
Critics said such services are tantamount to prostitution, but Hand Angels, the group in Taiwan, said their activities are legal in Taiwan.
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