Deaf women and girls in Zimbabwe are calling for urgent government action to end systemic discrimination and ensure their full inclusion in national life, according to a new policy brief by advocacy group Deaf Women Included (DWI).
The organisation warns that Deaf women face compounded marginalisation because of both gender and disability resulting in severely limited access to education, healthcare, justice and employment.
This structural exclusion DWI argues, leaves Deaf women especially vulnerable to violence and poverty.
“Despite Zimbabwe ratifying key human rights treaties like the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Deaf women and girls remain invisible in policy and practice,” the advocacy group said.
The brief outlines shocking barriers faced by the Deaf community. Most Deaf girls never complete primary education due to the lack of teachers proficient in Zimbabwean Sign Language (ZSL) and the absence of accessible learning materials.
Health services are similarly out of reach with clinics rarely providing ZSL interpreters leading to misdiagnoses, poor maternal care and even avoidable deaths.
Perhaps most concerning is their near-total exclusion from the justice system.
Deaf survivors of gender-based violence, including sexual abuse often cannot report crimes due to the absence of interpreters at police stations and courts.
“Perpetrators walk free while victims suffer in silence,” DWI noted.
On the economic front, Deaf women are largely locked out of formal employment and vocational training.
Many are pushed into low-paying informal work, making them more vulnerable to exploitation and financial dependence.
To address these challenges, DWI recommends a bold set of legal and policy reforms including mandatory provision of ZSL interpreters in all public services especially health, justice and education.
It also calls for accessible public broadcasts, inclusive vocational training programs and specialised support for Deaf survivors of gender-based violence.
“These are not luxuries; they are rights,” the group said, adding that inaction would only deepen Zimbabwe’s development inequalities.
DWI strongly endorses legally binding reforms across all sectors, arguing this is the only way to dismantle the entrenched barriers keeping Deaf women excluded and unsafe.
“Deaf women and girls are not asking for charity. They are demanding the right to live, learn, work, and lead with dignity—just like everyone else,” read the brief.
