February 2011

Deaf children present a particularly high vulnerability to sexual abuse as compared to their hearing counterparts. One of the largest barriers in raising awareness on child sexual abuse prevention for this sector is the lack of access to information.

To address this issue, Stairway developed a project aimed to capacitate NGOs working with the Deaf community.  Last Feb 1-4, through the assistance and recommendation of its partner, DLSU-CSB SDEAS, Stairway conducted its first training block for two NGO partners working with the Deaf community:   Support and Empowered Deaf Abused Children- a volunteer group working with deaf and abused children; and Gaulandi Volunteer Service Project-a volunteer group working with the Deaf community in Cebu City.  With 8 participants of mixed hearing and Deaf, the partners underwent training on Gender Sensitivity, basic child sexual abuse prevention and an introduction to handling disclosures.  The participants also went on a field demonstration to try out what they learned through a session in Adriatico Memorial High School in Calapan City, for 2 groups of Deaf school children.