TQM Report,
Deaf Women Aloud Initiative (DWAI), Deaf Women Association of Nigeria (DWAN) and others have called on government to establish Disability Desk with sign language in all SARC centres across Nigeria.
The Executive Director of DWAI, Hellen Beiyoku-Alase made this call among others during a press conference on Wednesday 8th December, 2021 to mark 16days of Activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV) and also in commomeration of International Day for Persons With Disabilities (IDPD) 2021.
The press conference was put together by Deaf Women Aloud Initiative in collaboration with Deaf Women Association of Nigeria with support from Disability Rights Fund, IPAS and a host of NGOs reaffirming the collective commitment of stepping up efforts to end GBV among women with disabilities especially Deaf Women.
Hellen commended the activists who started the movement in 1991 and applaud them because 16days of Activism against Gender Based Violence campaign which has reached over 300 million people in 187 countries over the past 30 years.
“We also commend the efforts and support of Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari for his support for Nigeria Women as we observe 16 days of Activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV) against women and girls and we urge him to accede to our demand for gender and Equal opportunities bill (GEOB) which we believed will eliminate all form of discrimination against women”
*As we join the UN secretary General’s UNITE by 2030 to End Violence against women campaign, launched in 2008 in support of the “16 Days” civil society initiative, On our part, we want to register our presence each year with the rest of the world to increase awareness, advocate for the understanding better Inclusion of Deaf Women and girls toward 16 days of Activism Gender Based Violence campaign faced and great benefit that come from full participation”
She stated that deafness is one of the greatest Disability groups globally, putting the number to over 460 million people have varying degrees of hearing loss and WHO reports in 2019 that the number likely reached over 900 million by 2050.
She informed that Deaf women and girls are at least twice as likely to be victims of abuse including violence than their hearing peers and they are doubly affected through direct violence but also to barriers they experience on daily basis such as communication, isolation, difficulty accessing information, difficulty of reporting, accessing post disclosure support, and difficulty accessing wide range of justice services.
She also stated that Violence against women with Disabilities is significant issue that is related to both gender based violence and disability based violence and these two factors made it extremely high risk of violence against women with disabilities.
In order not to leave any women with disabilities behind, the group called on the government, CSOs and development partners to do the following:
Strengthen government entities with the mandate to prevent and respond to violence in a Inclusive manner with full participation of sigh language.
Design Inclusive and accessible services and program that protect Deaf Women and other women with Disabilities from violence including health services, police formations, shelters and courts to women and girls with disabilities.
Invest in empowering, Deaf Women and women with Disabilities to know their sexual and reproductive rights and how to protect themselves.
Empower and employ qualified Deaf Women to be useful for themselves in order to lessen domestic violence
Improve data availability on different forms of violence experienced by women and girls with disabilities in different parts of the world.
Invest in evidence-based interventions that can demonstrate a decreased incidence of violence and make a sustainable change in the lives of women and girls with disabilities.
Actively and purposefully include violence against Deaf and other women with disabilities in development projects.
Finally and most importantly, establishment of Disability Desk with Sign Language in all SARC centres in Nigeria.
