When Can Someone With Alzheimer's No Longer Consent to Sex?
- A non-spousal caregiver or other person takes advantage of the person with Alzheimer's. (Or is it consensual?)
This is the crux of the fascinating case in the Washington Post feature. Sexual abuse is unconscionable, as in headline-making cases of nursing home workers accused of fondling or having intercourse with residents with such late-stage disease that it can't possibly be consensual. But what's rape in cases where the person can't exactly remember what happened and may or may not have been in agreement at the moment? What constitutes "taking advantage" of someone who's basically mentally impaired? Are the definitions different morally, ethically, and legally?
They're all tough questions nobody likes to think about. Spousal caregivers encounter them first, but so might any of us. They're potentially strange bedfellows, sex and Alzheimer's. Are you ready?
