Becoming a Disabled Woman is a big Issue in Our Families

Graça[1], a 32 years old woman, from the township of Chimoio in Manica Province of Mozambique, a mother of two kids Paulo and Anita[2] of 10 and 5 years old respectively, was divorced with a breastfeeding child (Anita) when she was one year old, for almost four years. Graça divorce resulted in sequence of events that started in a car accident, when she was hit by a car selling roasted peanuts to increase the income of her family, before Anita came. As she states within sniffs “…since that car shocked me I entered in a darkness that had been difficult to overcome…” after a pause she continues “I’d never imagine my husband bringing another woman into our roam because I became disabled while looking for a support to our own family.” In fact Graça was amputated a leg after the accident and as she mentions “…my husband family started to agitate his mind to chase me out since I was bringing bad lack to the family due to my new situation...”. Graça swears (in a firm and louder voice) that regrets for having accepted the second baby pregnancy in a trust that her husband would be strong enough to resist to his family pressure. She goes beyond saying that “… if it wasn’t the fact that I had two kids I’d would have committed a suicide in that day my husband came with another women and they together chased me out of the house with the two kids…”. After four years of her end of marriage, Graça discovered she was HIV positive and joined (by reference from the hospital) the Association of People Living with HIV (Kindlimuka) in Chimoio where she participate to many support groups sessions and income generating activities promoted by the association, that has financial support and training from Handicap International. She doesn’t know when she became HIV positive, however she recognizes that “I had several unprotected sexual relations with different men who, after lies of staying with me, never wanted to assume a disabled woman with two kids… they promise everything to have what they want[sex]…but, form the lessons I’m collecting with my colleagues and friends at Kindlimuka, there is no way I’ll accept to have unsafe…” she proceeds. Joining Kindlimuka was the best thing that happened to her life after all terror and, therefore brought hope as there she participates to many activities of community outreach, support group discussion and income generating activities. A study developed by Handicap International in Mozambque reveals that woman with disability within the different types of violence and abuse to what they are exposed sexual abuse is the worst (53%), and woman with visual impairments as they cannot see their partners chit on the use of condom, removing it at any time during the act. Another study, by Handicap International show that youth with disability, specially those with hearing impairments are the least informed and adopting safe practices in relation to risk of contracting HIV infection.