英國媒體2015.2.4.報導台灣手天使These Volunteers Give Handjobs to the Severely Disabled 這些義工們提供重度身障者打手槍服務

Hand Angels helping Andy from his wheelchair into bed. Photos courtesy of Hand Angel
手天使們幫忙將受服務者ND從輪椅移到床上。（圖片提供：手天使）
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These Volunteers Give Handjobs to the Severely Disabled
這些義工們提供重度身障者打手槍服務
February 4, 2015 by Nelson Moura and Yun jie Zou
2015.2.4 作者：Nelson Moura和Yun jie Zou
This article originally appeared on VICE UK.　原文張貼於英國雜誌VICE UK

Andy is a muscular dystrophy patient who lives with his parents in southern Taiwan. Due to his severe physical disability, he was home-schooled and couldn’t leave his house alone, so never really had the opportunity to develop either an active social life or a romantic relationship.
ND是位跟父母同住在南台灣的肌肉萎縮症患者。由於重度的肢體障礙，他一直都是在家自學且無法自行離家，也因此未有機會發展活躍的社交生活或感情。

When the Taiwanese NGO Hand Angel—an organization promoting the sexual rights of disabled people—first spoke to Andy, they realized this situation meant he’d also never been able to have a frank conversation with anyone about his sexuality. And as a young gay man who didn’t want to speak to his parents about his feelings, this wasn’t exactly the healthiest situation to be in.
當台灣的NGO組織手天使（一個推廣身障礙者性權的公益組織），首次跟ND聯繫時，該組織觀察到基於他的個人狀況，他從來沒有機會公開的去討論他的性傾向。作為一個無法與父母傾訴情感的男同志，實在不是一個健康的狀態。

So, over the course of a few months, representatives from the NGO counseled Andy online, helping him to understand his own sexuality and place in the world. Next, they “smuggled” him out of his house and took him to a motel for a handjob.
所以，在經過數個月的網路溝通過程中，手天使的義工不斷開導ND，幫助他自我認同。接著志工們才將ND”偷渡”出家門，帶他到一間旅館提供他打手槍的服務。

Taiwan—officially known as the Republic of China—has one of the best health systems in the world; its million or so disabled citizens receive some of the most thorough medical attention you’ll find, including everything from long-term care to traditional herbal medicine. What they don’t receive from this system, however, is any kind of aid when it comes to slightly more intimate issues, namely: orgasms.
台灣具備了世界級的醫療系統。百萬名身障公民在此接受完備的醫療照護，包含長期照護與中醫治療，但他們無法從此醫療系統中得到任何關於性的幫助，也就是性高潮。

It was for this reason that a group of social campaigners and volunteers took it upon themselves to create Hand Angel, an NGO whose main service is giving handjobs to the severely disabled. Members say that their work raises awareness of the fact that disabled people are often depicted as desexualized—as well as having their sexuality constantly neglected—despite the fact they share exactly the same desires as anybody else.
正因為社會對親密議題的漠視，一群社運人士與志工們決定創立手天使，一個專職於提供重度身障者打手槍的NGO組織。該組織成員表示，他們要讓社會意識到身心障礙人士常常被去性別化，儘管身心障礙者跟一般人同樣擁有慾望，但他們的性向依然受到忽視。

In the Netherlands, the national health system provides a grant scheme for people with disabilities to receive public money to pay for sexual services up to 12 times a year. In Taiwan, sex remains a taboo, and some Buddhists—the sovereign state’s primary religion—believe that someone suffering from a disability means they’re paying for bad deeds in a past life. So not the best mix for those like Andy, really.
荷蘭的國家公衛系統一年補助身心障礙者接受十二次的性服務。在台灣，性愛仍然是個敏感話題，加上部分佛教徒相信遭受殘疾磨難者是為了補償前世種下的惡果。因此，性與像ND這樣的障礙者變成一種負面的連結。

“I can’t tell my parents that I also have sexual desires, and I can’t come out of the closet in front them,” he told me. “My family’s care puts lots of pressure [on me] and sabotages me from normal romantic relations.”
『我無法對我的父母說我也有性慾，而且我也無法對他們出櫃』他告訴我：『家人的照顧對我造成龐大壓力，也阻礙我發展正常的情慾關係。』

Vincent, the 50-year-old founder of Hand Angel, lost his legs to polio and says his disability allows him to better empathize with applicants’ needs, without any of the patronization disabled people can sometimes face. He emphasized that “disabled people share the same physical and emotional needs as any others, and therefore should have the right to pursue them.”
今年五十歲的Vincent是手天使的創辦人，因為小兒麻痺症而無法行走。他說他的殘障使他對申請者的需求感同身受，在服務時希望不讓申請者感受到被施捨與憐憫。他強調：「身心障礙者跟其他人有一樣的生理與情感需求，因此他們應該要有權利來滿足這些需要。」

In order to decide who’s entitled to use their services, Hand Angel first assess an applicant’s level of disability. The person has to be recognized by the government as having a serious physical impairment, but can’t be mentally disabled. Once they’re cleared, the service is totally free, but each applicant can only receive three bouts of sexual stimulation.
在決定申請者是否有資格接受手天使的服務之前，該組織首先會評量申請者的障礙程度。申請人必須是符合政府認定的重度肢體障礙者，但不接受心智障礙者的申請。一旦符合標準，就能免費使用這項性服務。不過，每位申請者僅能接受三次手天使的服務。

Volunteers—the group of 10 people actually giving the handjobs—come from varied backgrounds; some are gay, some are straight, some are disabled, some are PhD students, some are social campaigners and some work in the media. It’s made very clear to me that these volunteers only use their hands for second-base kind of stuff—that hugging, caressing, and kissing on the face are all fine, but anything penetrative (fingering, oral sex, vaginal sex, and anal sex) is not.
該組織的志工群，十位手天使的成員皆來自不同的背景，有同志、異性戀、障礙者、博士生、社運人士及媒體工作者。這些志工僅利用他們的雙手來提供服務，而如擁抱、愛撫與親吻臉頰都在許可範圍內，但任何侵入式性行為（如手指侵入式交媾、口交、陰道性交和肛交）則不被允許。

The hands of Hand Angel volunteers 手天使義工還給重障者高潮的手

When Hand Angel took Andy to the motel, the volunteer caressed him thoroughly and gave him a handjob. He described the intimacy being so intense that, for a minute, he believed he was in love. He knew it was only temporary, of course, but the experience provided him with an emotional connection he’d never felt before.
當一位手天使帶ND到旅館後，該名志工幫他愛撫與打手槍的服務。ND描述這場親密交流是如此熱切，讓他幾乎有一刻認為自己戀愛了。他當然知道這是短暫的，但此次經驗讓他感受到過去從未經歷過的情感連結。

This is part of Hand Angel’s mission: not just providing a sexual service, but also bringing forth an emotional and social transformation in applicants.
這也是手天使任務的一部份：不僅僅是提供性服務，也期待受服務者學習情感交流與社會化。

“[Andy] was very introverted before, and didn’t really know how to interact with people,” said Vincent. “However, through months of talking online, I discovered something changed inside him. When our group was reported by the media and got lots of criticism, I saw Andy joined the public debate and argued with those [critical] internet users, trying to illustrate his opinions.”
「ND是個非常內向的人，而且不太知道如何與人互動」，Vincent說道：「無論如何，透過數個月的線上交談，我發覺他內心有了某種改變。當媒體報導使我們的團體遭受眾多批評時，我看到ND加入了公眾辯論，並與那些大肆批判的網友進行辯論，闡述他的觀點。」

In Taiwan, where a discussion of sexuality is restrained by strict moral codes, there was also plenty of mockery leveled at Hand Angel. Internet users starting posting comments like: “Do they also offer ‘Mouth Angels?'”; “I’m retarded; can I apply for Hand Angel service, too?”; and “Only three times in a lifetime?”
在台灣，對性傾向的討論仍然飽受高度的道德限制，也有許多人嘲諷手天使。網友開始張貼以下留言：「他們有提供”口天使”嗎？」、「我腦殘，我也可以申請手天使的服務嗎？」以及「一生僅有三次？」。

There even appeared to be negativity on an official level. The executive secretary of the Taipei United Social Wealth Alliance, Yi-Ting Hu, commented on the NGO, saying: “Speaking from personal opinion, I don’t think we need to bring up disabled people’s sexuality as an independent issue. There are more important and urgent problems we need to deal with. Don’t you think if you advocate their sexual rights, it is like another form of discrimination?”
有些負面評價甚至是來自社會團體。台北市社會福利聯盟總幹事胡宜庭表示：「從個人角度來說，我不認為我們需要把身障人士的性傾向當作一項獨立的議題，且還有許多更重要與迫切的問題等待處理。你不認為如果鼓吹他們的性權更像是另一種歧視嗎？」。

Of course, he seemed to only be proving Hand Angels’ point; to suggest that advocating a disabled person’s sexual rights is a form of discrimination is, first, patronizing in itself, and secondly, just completely bizarre—how is consensually receiving a handjob in any way discriminatory?
當然，胡總幹事的說法更證明了手天使的觀點：首先，認為「鼓吹身障者的性權是一種歧視」的說法本身就帶有施捨的態度；其次，雙方合意的打手槍服務，究竟是哪種層面的歧視？

Andy summed it up: “I didn’t feel I was the target of pity. The whole process was full of respect and equality. This might be deemed as controversial by society, but as long as you’re willing to look into it, what we desire is no different from others. Just ask yourself: do you need to consult your parents before having sex?”
ND總結了他的經驗：「我不認為我是被憐憫的對象，整個過程充滿了尊重與平等。或許，這是一項社會上有爭議的服務，但只要你願意深入瞭解，我們身障人士的慾望和一般人無異。而你只需要問問你自己：在從事性行為前，你是否需要徵詢你父母同意？」

編按：1.以上中文翻譯感謝來自手天使翻譯義工Li-Ning Chen專業翻譯。
2.以上報導連結自英國Vice雜誌
http://www.vice.com/read/hand-angel-hand-jobs-taiwan-748
3.英國Vice雜誌（http://www.vice.com/en_uk/）