By Bushra Azmat | Project Leader
For the Deaf community in Pakistan, harassment is not just verbal or physical—it often stems from exclusion, miscommunication, ignorance, and lack of awareness. At DWAF, we believe that safety begins when dignity, equality, and inclusion begin.
Over the past months, DWAF has been actively breaking barriers across various sectors by conducting awareness sessions on Inclusion, Sign Language, Women Empowerment, and Harassment Prevention. These engagement activities have helped hearing individuals and workplaces understand the Deaf community with empathy, respect, and inclusion.
Corporate Sector Engagement:
DWAF successfully delivered a 3-day awareness and inclusion training focused on understanding the needs and rights of Deaf women and youth, safe work environments, communication methods, and practical support strategies.
International Collaborations:
DWAF worked with GIZ and Sudhaar Society to organize capacity-building sessions empowering Deaf women about their rights, confidence, self-advocacy, and protection against harassment. This provided Deaf girls a safe platform to speak, learn, and grow.
Workplace Trainings:
DWAF initiated awareness sessions for inclusion and sign language at leading business chains, including McDonald’s, encouraging management and staff to build safer, more accessible environments for Deaf employees.
Healthcare Sector Awareness:
We conducted training sessions in hospitals and healthcare facilities, enabling medical staff to understand non-verbal communication and address harassment or mistreatment cases with sensitivity and awareness.
Engagement With Transgender Communities:
DWAF participated in “Angaan Amen,” a collaborative platform promoting social inclusion and protection of marginalized groups, including transgender and Deaf communities—highlighting solidarity against harassment of vulnerable women and youth.
Why this matters:
Harassment survives in silence. Deaf girls often remain unheard—literally and socially. But through awareness, confidence building, and community involvement, they are learning to speak through signs, advocacy, and empowerment.
What we see happening:
Deaf girls are speaking up
Workplaces want to learn
Communities are responding
Youth are becoming advocates
We thank our donors and partners for supporting our mission. Your belief in this work enables us to create safe, respectful, and inclusive spaces for Deaf girls across Pakistan.
Together, we are not just ending harassment, we are building empowerment.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
