According to research conducted in the Deaf Have Vote project (2016) and the Polish Association of the Deaf figures, a vast majority (84%) of deaf people say that they do not know their civil rights, including those under the Sign Language Act, are not involved in social matters in their town, do not feel independent, are forced to seek help from relatives when dealing with civic administrative matters, have significant deficiencies with regard to social abilities, and have limited access to legal representation.
The project aims to improve quality of life of deaf people by more effectively getting them involved in community life and making them more effective in exercising their civil rights, and rights under the law.
By making use of current social media and communication tools, we will set up a television channel to provide, to suplement the information in the media available to this group with information on local matters and current issues relating to activity of deaf people communities. It will be created by volunteers, for whom we will provide training in journalism. We will organize a series of eight debates broadcast online, on the subject of the daily lives of deaf people: sport, culture, education, public information, communication, participation in local democracy, access to sign language, and the labor market. We will provide advice on legal and civil issues, and training on self-advocate community skills.
The project will help to improve the knowledge of a minimum of 200 deaf people of public and civil matters, to defend and ensure respect for deaf people’s rights, and to develop self-advocacy approaches for 60 people with hearing impairments.