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Sexuality of ‘Dehumanized People’ across Post-Soviet Countries: Patterns from Closed Residential Care Institutions in Lithuania

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Abstract

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, former Soviet countries inherited a widely developed network of residential social care institutions intended for persons who have intellectual disabilities. Monitoring inspections carried out by disability and human rights organizations in these regions reveal fundamental human rights violations at the institutions concerned. The aim of this article is to analyze one of the most severe and under-reported human rights violations experienced by women who have intellectual disabilities, while residing in social care institutions: the violation of their sexual and reproductive rights. Authors of this article employ Foucault’s viewpoint with regard to disciplinary society and understanding of control of sexuality as an expression of power. The institutional culture that prevails in residential care institutions and allows room for hiding serious human rights violations is also discussed in this article. Restrictions imposed on sexuality in care institutions are not merely limited to a number of individual cases, but they are connected with broader systematic issues. Above all others, the system of residential care institutions itself allows for violations of most of its residents’ rights to occur, including violations of sexual and reproductive rights. None of these rights can be safeguarded and promoted sporadically or partially; therefore, systematic changes are needed, as well as shifts in public mentality and amendments in mental health policy.

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Notes

  1. Some parts of the analysis apply to both males and females WHID and in the text will be referred to as ‘persons WHID’.

  2. The analysis mostly covers the situation in Lithuania, however, some examples from fifteen successor states of the SU and other former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe are brought in where relevant.

  3. "There is no sex in the Soviet Union on television" was the whole phrase, however its second part is usually skipped when quoting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Work Department, Vilnius University, Universiteto g. 9/1, 01513, Vilnius, Lithuania

    Egle Sumskiene & Urtė Lina Orlova

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  1. Egle Sumskiene
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  2. Urtė Lina Orlova
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Correspondence to Egle Sumskiene.

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Sumskiene, E., Orlova, U.L. Sexuality of ‘Dehumanized People’ across Post-Soviet Countries: Patterns from Closed Residential Care Institutions in Lithuania. Sexuality & Culture 19, 369–387 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-014-9262-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-014-9262-1

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