https://goo.gl/bKmea3
Forced Intimacy is a term I have been using for years to refer to the common, daily experience of disabled people being expected to share personal parts of ourselves to survive in an ableist world.
This often takes the form of being expected to share (very) personal information with able bodied people to get basic access, but it also includes forced physical intimacy, especially for those of us who need physical help that often requires touching of our bodies.
Forced intimacy can also include the ways that disabled people have to build and sustain emotional intimacy and relationships with someone in order to get access — to get safe, appropriate and good access.
I have experienced forced intimacy my entire life as a disabled child, youth, and adult. I am always expected to do the work of opening myself up for others’ benefit, education, curiosity or benevolent oppression.