Assessing capacity to consent to sexual relations: a guide for nurses

The right to marry and found a family is a fundamental freedom bestowed on adults under the European Convention of Human Rights (Council of Europe 1950). Engaging in sexual activity is an essential component of that right and should be free from state interference. Community nurses, however, often express concern over the possibility that adults with learning disabilities or other impairments of the mind cannot give a real consent to participate in sexual relations and so should be prevented from doing so in their own best interests. In this article Richard Griffith and Cassam Tengnah review the case law in relation to the capacity to consent to sexual activity. They set out how a community nurse should approach an assessment of decision making capacity in relation to engaging in sexual relations and what steps can be taken to protect a person who lacks capacity to participate.