Disabled empowered

THE National Federation of People with Disabilities in Namibia recently hosted a graduation ceremony at Ongwediva.

It followed a four-week programme aimed at empowering disabled people to serve as HIV-AIDS peer educators. This is the first time a programme of its kind has been conducted in Namibia.The Deputy Mayor of Ongwediva, Patricia Kashuupulwa, said there was a misconception that disabled people didn’t have sex lives, even though many of them have children.”Women with disabilities are especially vulnerable: there is a high incidence of rape among them and they do not have the power to negotiate for safer sex,” she said.She said intellectually disabled women ran a high risk because of abuse, fuelled by the myth that sex with a virgin could cure a man of HIV-AIDS.This is the first time a programme of its kind has been conducted in Namibia.The Deputy Mayor of Ongwediva, Patricia Kashuupulwa, said there was a misconception that disabled people didn’t have sex lives, even though many of them have children.”Women with disabilities are especially vulnerable: there is a high incidence of rape among them and they do not have the power to negotiate for safer sex,” she said.She said intellectually disabled women ran a high risk because of abuse, fuelled by the myth that sex with a virgin could cure a man of HIV-AIDS.