“I am deaf but I can do this on my own”

Magret (39 years old) was raped in his teens and was working as a carpenter’s assistant when she was infected with HIV. As a deaf woman, she has faced challenges throughout her life, especially when it comes to accessing appropriate information about sexual and reproductive health. After meeting Deaf Women Included she is confident and now supports herself and her family and sells products in local villages.

Previously I didn’t have the opportunity to communicate clearly using sign language. A lot of people came to me and asked me the sexual favors that I had rejected. They would still come in behind me. They wanted me to force intercourse with them. As hours passed, I was raped by a man. It took some time to report to the police. I disagree very much about it and he disagrees with what he did to me. I was raped and infected with HIV.

I didn’t go to the hospital, so I finally gave birth to an HIV-positive baby. The man came back and raped me. When I gave birth, we were all given medicine. The same man came back and raped me again. When I took the medicine, my second child was born HIV-negative. Many deaf women have been raped and not reported. I think what happened to me is also happening to other women. As deaf women, we have a lot of challenges.

There are many deaf women. They believe that they are women who are unable to pay for the bride. For example, I know of another deaf woman who was raped. She is all our rape products with 4 children. Another challenge is when you need an interpreter if you need to send information if you need medical care. But they need to pay-who can pay? This is still a challenge. As deaf women, we need to work together. You need to share information about how to solve the problem. I learned about DWI from a friend who invited me to my workshop. There was no clear information or communication before.

Now DWI helps women with hearing loss. They helped us access a lot of information about abuse and sexual assault. They helped us to be informed about HIV and AIDS. As hearing impaired, we learned to sit down and not cry about the problem. We must unite, cooperate and share information with others. These are one of the things DWI has helped us with. I signed up and grew up because I was born deaf, but lacked a lot of information. For example, I can’t understand some terms of health education. Drinking and driving helped us understand what is known about the health and sexual reproductive health and more. Many people were infected with HIV and refused to be with me, play, or make friends with me.

Now that I’ve met DWI, I’ve been taught to tell others that I can unite regardless of who I am. They taught me how to combine and share issues. I work with three friends at a city merchant who now sells phone credits, sweets, cigarettes, and corn. I don’t want to rely on it. “Can I have?”, “Can I have?” I want to stand on my own feet. The DWI work is important, and it helps. It helps to give me strength. Now you can do everything yourself. It is important to bring together women with disabilities-it promotes integration regardless of your disability. Regardless of whether you are deaf, blind, wheelchair-bound, or physically handicapped, you will learn to work together as a group.

It takes a lot of people to learn within I need to help them whether it is deaf or someone I don’t know. I have to tell them, I am deaf but can do the work within me.

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