156 chapter 7: Sexuality
What the community can do
• Make sure women with disabilities are included
and have important roles in community
ceremonies about sexuality and womanhood.
• Advocate for respect for the sexuality of all women
and girls.
Train women with
disabilities as health
workers to provide sex
education for other girls
and women.
• Adapt sex education programs to include girls
and women with disabilities. For example, let
blind women feel a condom and learn how to use
one by touch. Use pictures and models to make
learning easier for deaf women and women who
have difficulty reading or understanding.
• Watch out for disabled girls and women,
especially those whose disabilities affect their
learning and understanding. They are often
more vulnerable to sexual abuse. Women’s safety is the whole community’s
responsibility. For more information about helping women who have been
abused, see Chapter 14.
To the health worker:
Many women with disabilities have questions about
sexuality. But they are often afraid or ashamed to ask. As a
health worker, you can help by learning more about ways
disabled women can be sexual and by talking with them
about their concerns and hopes.
You can work together with disabled women to
organize events or programs that reach out to women and girls who have
disabilities. In one community, a group of young disabled women invites
a health worker and woman’s health doctor to participate in a yearly group
conversation about sexual health. The women talk with one another and ask
questions about sexuality and women’s health.
You can also help girls and young women with disabilities get good
information about how their bodies are changing. You can explain what
it means to be a woman, and answer their questions about relationships
and sexuality. As a health worker, you can work to change the beliefs and
attitudes that make it harder for girls and women with disabilities to feel
good about their bodies and sexuality.
A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities 2007