deaf at the peril

By Nthateng Mhlambiso (BTM Senior Reporter)
 
September 14, 2006: “Deaf people are dying without HIV testing or treatment, family or community support”, Judge Edwin Cameroon said recently at the exhibition a comic book – “Are your rights respected”, created by the Gay and Lesbian Archives (GALA).

Cameroon pointed out that the deaf community is still a “politically, linguistically, socially and economically marginalized group, and that since the deaf do not have access to most information mediums the comic is a good start.”

Illustrated by a renowned South African artist, Tommy Motswai – who’s deaf, the comic is a groundbreaking attempt to depict real life stories of the community which is less spoken about.

The book proposes discussions around important issues within the deaf society, which points out GALA’s main intentions about the comic to put forward awareness on same sex issues.

With almost over 500 000 population of deaf people in South Africa, this community is thought to be very conservative according to Ruth Morgan, the director of GALA.

Morgan says, “We wanted to raise awareness around same sex, but also around sexual issues more broadly.”

She added that GALA also wanted to address issues of rape and abuse among young deaf people that often go unreported. For instance she says; “One of the comic’s female characters suffers sexual abuse by a male teacher but tells no one.”

On the other hand, the book sees some obstacles that deaf people are likely to face with regard to the access of HIV/Aids information.

The comic is free of charge and available at DEAFSA and GALA.