Deaf Women Cry Out: “We Are Also Wife Materials”

Women Living with Hearing Impairment in Niger Appeal to Men Seeking Life Partners, Asserting Their Readiness for Marriage and Building Healthy Families

The women spoke through their leader, Hajiya Salamatu Hammed, during the celebration for this year’s World Hearing Day on Sunday in Minna.

Hammed urged men not to neglect deaf women, saying “We are marriage materials like any other woman.”

She, therefore, called on all eligible men to feel free to approach any deaf woman for marriage, adding, “We are like any other woman who gives birth to normal children.”

She called on all tiers of government to employ interpreters at all public health institutions in the state to enable people with hearing problems to have access to quality health care

According to Hammed, “I was not born as a deaf child, but I started having problem after an operation during delivery which affected my voice. I can hear but lost my voice as a result of the operation carried out on me to bring out my baby.”

She said that none of her children have a hearing problem, confirming that those women with hearing impairment can still give birth to normal children.

In his presentation, an expert on Audiology, Dr. Sidi Maku, Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, in the state Ministry of Health and Hospital Services, lamented the neglect of persons with hearing challenges in the country.

Maku said people with hearing impairment are few but neglected, praying to God to grant succour to those with the problem.