Within the framework of the project “I see! About Soul and Body for Women with Intellectual Disabilities,” during the autumn of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, we encouraged the creation of four self-help groups for people with mental disabilities and their families in Plzeň, Mladá Boleslav, Prague, and Hodonín.
The self-help groups were intended to enable their participants to meet with other people who have had similar experiences with respect to life as a woman – a woman’s body, partner relationships, sex, parenthood, harassment, abuse, etc. The groups were meant to provide a safe space where it would be possible to share these experiences and information as well as to find inspiration for resolving problems in the given areas.
Two groups – in Plzeň and Mladá Boleslav – were intended for women with mental disabilities. The Hodonín group was intended for mothers with mental disabilities, who were dealing with similar issues with their daughters. The Prague group is mixed – for women and men with mental disabilities who are interested in issues concerning relationships, sexuality, and possible abuse. In each group, there were 6-10 participants. A lecturer who was part of the team at the Society for the Support of People with Mental Disabilities in the Czech Republic (SPMP ČR) was always on hand to help in the creation of each group. One or two auxiliary lecturers with mental disabilities also participated in the groups for women with mental disabilities. They brought topics and impetuses to the group and stimulated discussion on the given topics. Individual groups met three or four times for two hours. The Prague group began later and has so far only met twice. Another three meetings are planned and then we shall see if the group will also continue to meet in the future.
To ensure that all four groups worked well, each of them created their own rules, which applied in the individual meetings for all participants. Each self-help group meeting had its own theme. The groups of women with mental disabilities mostly dealt with topics concerning love, partner relationships, contraception, and gynaecological examinations, but also parenthood.
The parents’ group talked about the adolescence of daughters with mental disabilities. One big topic was their fear for their daughters – that no one would abuse them and that they would not get pregnant. Parents expressed great concern that the care of a child by their daughter would fall on them – tired and aging parents/grandparents. At an age when they would want to experience the joy of being grandparents, they would once again have to take on the responsibility of parents.
The atmosphere in all the groups was friendly and informal. The group environment in all cases was very stimulating – women and men shared much important information; they confided their joys and fears with the others and sought solutions to specific situations and problems. The participants gradually acquired the courage to speak about difficult issues and personal matters, and they considered their participation in the group to have been beneficial.