New Telegraph

GBV: Deaf women are twice likely to be victims – DWAI boss

Violence against women and girls is one of the most prevalent human right violations in the world. It knows no social, economic or national boundaries. Worldwide, an estimated one in three women will experience physical or sexual abuse in her lifetime. Gender-based violence (GBV) undermines the health, dignity, security and autonomy of its victims, yet it remains shrouded in a culture of silence. Victims of violence can suffer sexual and reproductive health consequences, including forced and unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, traumatic fistula, sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and even death.

As deadly and prevalent as GBV is, the Executive Director, Deaf Women Aloud Initiative, Hellen Beyioku-Alase at a two-day training for journalist with funding from Urgent Action Fund on Deaf Women, Sexual and Gender Based Violence in Abuja said deaf women are at least twice more likely to be victims of genderbased violence.

“Deaf women are at least twice as likely to be victims of abuse including violence than their hearing peers due to barriers they experience in everyday life. For example, issues relating to communication, isolation, difficulty accessing information, difficulty of reporting/accessing post disclosure support, and difficulty accessing the wide range of justice services,” she said.

Continuous battle

Speaking further in her welcome address, she said the topic sexual and gender based violence is not new but until the menace of sexual and gender-based violence is curbed they cannot rest their oars. “Until we have no more issues like Osinanachi Nwachukwu, we will continue to discuss this from the rooftop. This is one traumatic and unfortunate issue that women suffer day after day irrespective of class and societal difference. It is from this premise my organisation lends its voice to the ongoing crisis women suffer, especially women who are deaf. “Deaf women and girls live a life of deprivation and misery in silence, the most serious obstacles preventing them from accessing justice on issues of gender-based violence is because of their disabilities of hearing impairments which seem invisible, thus making it hard for them to report cases of GBV,” Alase added. According to Stimson & Best (1991), an estimated 83% percent of women with disabilities will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime. There is evidence to suggest that women with disabilities are abused by a greater number of perpetrators and are abused for longer periods than non-disabled women. In addition, deaf and hard-of-hearing women are more likely to have a history of childhood sexual abuse than their hearing counterparts. Speaking further on underreporting of SGBV as it affects people with disabilities Alase said that: “Survivors may not speak out because they are ashamed, stigmatized, blame themselves, fear reprisals or re-victimization, or mistrust the authorities. As a result, survivors may not make use of the services to which they are entitled. “Also, the media who are the primary Source of information for the deaf community use terms that are viewed as derogatory or unacceptable to refer to deaf individuals. Terms commonly used such as hearing-impaired, deafmute, deaf and dumb, or hearing deficient would imply that the deaf individual is ‘broken’ or ‘inferior’. Acceptable terms that are all-inclusive and may be used to identify deaf persons would be Deaf, blind, deaf-disabled, hard-of-hearing, latedeafened, and hearing, impaired,” she said.

Abandoned by parents

As advocates for deaf women and girls in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs especially at the Kuje Deaf School, the organisation has reported cases of deaf girls being abandoned by parents and caregivers during the holidays. In recent times, there have been reported cases of rape in schools for the deaf in Ibadan (Oyo State), Makurdi (Benue State), and the FCT. These sexual assaults were mostly perpetrated by males who broke into the girls’ hostels to rape young deaf girls. She noted that: “Because of non-communication, deaf women and children are often left out of their social circles or deliberately ignored by their community or family members. This makes them vulnerable to strangers who might harm them or they become targets of sexual based violence. Lack of social inclusion leaves them open to physical, emotional, or psychological abuse and they are often misunderstood by the hearing community. In contentious cases, deaf women are often not able to defend themselves and can be perceived as being guilty. A lack of communication prevents deaf women from accessing sexual, reproductive health service in clinics and hospitals all over Nigeria. “There is a wide gap in communication between caregivers, health professionals and the deaf community. Deaf women and girls have little or no knowledge about their legal rights to access justice when they are sexually abused. There are many laws put in place such as the SDG goals 5, UNCRPD articles as well as Deaf Women with Disabilities but because of their limited or lack of education and information, many deaf women and girls who need to access justice are denied.”

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