All About Being Young: Sexual and reproductive health and rights of deaf adolescents

Rising Flame have been supporting Deaf Child Worldwide (DCW) in the roll out of DCW’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) strategy in South Asia which aims to improve deaf adolescents’ access to SRHR information and services. As part of this initiative, that began in 2021, Rising Flame has designed a curriculum, created resources and facilitated trainings for 50 deaf and hearing community workers chosen from projects supported by DCW in West Bengal and Odisha. These 50 trainees will act
as ‘SRH Mentors’ who will support deaf young people to access information and SRH services in these States. The curriculum titled ‘All About Being Young’ contains information on bodies, bodily changes, sexuality, navigating relationships, gender roles, and safety. DCW’s partners who have been involved in this so far are Citizen’s Association for Rural Development, Society for Action in Disability and Health Awareness, Lower Income People’s Involvement for Community Action, Graham Bell Centre for the Deaf, and Child In Need Institute. The first round of trainings to support the 50 deaf and hearing trainers has concluded and planning for implementation of phase 2 is underway.