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Text-only | Access advice |
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Mosque Access by Lucy RahmanLucy Rahman's film deals with her experience as a young deaf Islamic woman. 'I asked my parents what Islam meant, but they found it hard to explain to a deaf child, so I never really understood,' she says. 'There are a lot of Islamic deaf women isolated at home who can't communicate with their parents.' The issue of access to mosques is particularly important for young women like Lucy, from a 'closed' background. 'Being "closed" means you don't go out to deaf clubs, socialising, drinking or partying, it all stops,' Lucy says. 'Being closed means that you only go between the home and the mosque... It's difficult not having an interpreter at the mosque. There's no access for us at the mosque for prayer. We need an interpreter to learn the teachings.' Lucy spoke to a representative from her mosque, in the UK Turkish cultural centre, who seemed open to the idea of booking an interpreter for deaf worshippers. But when VEE-TV talked to Lucy again, the situation hadn't changed. We also talked to Rubbeena Aurangzeb about the Asian Deaf Women's Association (ADWA), for which Rubbeena works as a project co-ordinator. 'It's an organisation which exists to help Asian women become independent,' she says. 'There are a lot of isolated women hidden in the community who have difficulty coming forward because their families keep them at home.' The ADWA is currently based in Stratford, east London, but the organisation aims to develop a national reach and set up a telephone helpline. Help and infoAsian Deaf Women's Association (ADWA) Asian Women's Resource Centre (AWRC) London Ethnic Minority Deaf Association (LEMDA) |
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