COLOMBO: For the longest time sexual assault cases filed by deaf people were almost always lost. This was attributed to the fact that there are no sign language gestures for sexual terms - apart from informal or crude gestures that most deaf people feel too ashamed to demonstrate in a courtroom.
Realising the pressing need for sexual terms in sign language, the YPeers, UNFPA, The Deaf and Blind School and the Ministry of Social Affairs, worked closely to develop a comprehensive reproductive health sign language glossary.
The glossary was launch in December 2015, and has since been picked up by the local and international media as a revolutionary development.
Here's the latest on the sign language glossary in the Global Press Journal by Aanya Wipulasena.
