STOP RAPING DEAF GIRLS

Through the recent case may 20,2016 A family in Eldoret whose 22 year old deaf daughter was allegedly raped and impregnated by a teacher late last year is pleading for justice.Henry Ndiema, the students father, who is also physically challenged and a single parent, said despite reporting the case to the County Director of Education and the  county government, nothing has been done and the culprit is still walking free.

“Despite my poverty and my state, I struggled to pay fees for my daughter, but a teacher I entrusted to take care of my daughter took advantage of her disability to rape and impregnates her,” she laments.Ndiema expressed fear that he would not be able to care for his daughter and grandchild unless the culprit is made to take responsibility for his heinous act.

The father of three lives in a shanty house at Khaoya estate in the outskirts of Eldoret town where he says, he was given by a Good Samaritan and ekes out a living doing small time carpentry work.The then dressing and garment making student at Kapsabet School for the Deaf Vocational Training Centre said she was raped by a teacher at the institution who was entrusted to take care of her and other students selected to participate in the national athletics championship for the deaf in Nairobi on September 23, 2015.

Speaking through an interpreter, the student said she and three colleagues had travelled with the male teacher for the sports and were booked in a hotel for the time they were to spend in Nairobi.“After participating in the games on the second day, we returned to the hotel where we watched TV after evening meals. It was then that the teacher asked me to go to bed since I was to compete the following day,” she said.

“As I was preparing to go to bed, I realized the teacher was in my room. I asked him to go out but he instead locked the door, switched off the lights and went ahead to rape me. I was ashamed and never told anyone about the incident because the teacher warned me not to tell anybody about the incident,” she went on.“I am now pregnant though I had not engaged in any sexual act before or after with any other person except this teacher. I am in a terrible state of not knowing what to do,” she narrated in a report given to the Nandi County Director of Education three months ago.

“My career is affected. Even the course I was taking was terminated by this brutal act. Kindly assist on what to do. I am disabled and poor,” she further pleaded in the report,the Centre’s principal Willy Tessey confirmed that the student was sent home when it was discovered she was pregnant.He also confirmed that the said teacher had indeed accompanied the student for the sports in Nairobi.Tessey added that the issue was reported to the County Director of Education and the Teachers’ Service Commission for the necessary action.

Its very unfortunately for most school going Deaf girls have been denied the right to education by same people who taught them in classes ,for this reason there is need for parent to learn sign language to enable them to communicate with their Deaf girl child ,through this they will be able to to ensure that their girls are knowledgeable and can prevent themselves from being raped.

Most parents have been giving too much excuses when a deaf girls is being raped ,those behavior should be stopped because the lives our our young girls are at stake ,we cannot always pretend when we know pretty well that being a deaf does not stop someone to engage in sex activities .

There is no person who is better that another one ,we all equal before the law and we all entitled to be protected against all kind of discriminination,Gender Based violence and all related issues that denied our rights. Its very unfortunately in Kenya most of special schools don't play a major role in molding our Deaf children as they spent most of their time in boarding schools and from this point of view schools should play an active role in providing sex education but most schools does not and most Principals in Deaf schools does not take this into account ,all they do is to punish them when they (students)having a lot of fun like other teenagers for example dating in school .

I urged all persons should come together and be the voice of voiceless by  saying  ''STOP RAPE“Because rape is NEVER the victim's fault especially when the victim is a Deaf ,this mean the victim will be facing multiple discrimination and remain isolated in a silent world.