Enhancing Deaf and Mute Protection, Minister of Social Affairs Launches ‘GRUWI’

JAKARTA (July 3, 2023) – One of the efforts in fulfilling persons with disabilities’ rights was by making sure that the state protects them from safety aspects. For this purpose, Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini launches an aid called Bracelet for Persons with Hearing and Speech Disabilities (GRUWI).

GRUWI is launched as a response to vulnerable situations which is possibly faced by deaf and mute and deaf persons. Security or safety threats that they face could be a criminal act/criminality or another danger.

In her speech, Minister of Social Affairs claimed that the innovation was started from her anxiety knowing there are many rapes happening to children with deaf and mute disabilities.

“So, this is one of my anxieties because there are many children with speech disabilities who were raped. It becomes one of the reasons why I encourage them to create these aids,” said Minister of Social Affairs at GRUWI Launching event in Jakarta, Monday (3).

Other than rape, possible danger of accidents on the street such as crashes or getting hit by train is also put into consideration. Real experience of persons with deaf and mute disabilities once got hit by train when Risma was a Mayor of Surabaya couple years ago.

This encourages Minister of Social Affairs and her staff to invent the aid. “This becomes the reason that encourages me to ask the staff to create an aid for mute or deaf people,” said Minister of Social Affairs.

Furthermore, the Minister explained how GRUWI which was worn on the user’s wrist works. When they felt panic for a reason, they could push a button in GRUWI which enabled the tool to emit a sound as a signal for help towards the people around them.

In addition, GRUWI was also able to pick up another sensor, which was motion sensor. The sensor would vibrate which can be felt by the user whenever possibility of danger arises.

“For example, there’s a vehicle passing through. They don’t see or hear warnings from people around them. Thus, the bracelet in wrist will work as a motion sensor which vibrates as a signal to immediately move away,” Risma says.

Patent

GRUWI was not the first breakthrough initiated by Minister of Social Affairs. Previously, there was an adaptive stick created to help blind people access it.

“The bracelet is not the first aid that we invent. We’ve made adaptive sticks for the blind. So, the bracelet is produced by Ministry of Social Affairs. I got the idea and later on, it is translated by the staff,” she said.

Because Ministry of Social Affairs made the bracelet and even involved persons with disabilities, Risma stated that the innovation needed to be patented as Ministry of Social Affairs’ copyright before being mass-produced.

“I will patent the bracelet, nationally or internationally. But that’s still in the future. The bracelet needs to be perfected in terms of function and feature to help protect our deaf and mute kids,” she said.

Previously, the adaptive stick has been patented as Ministry of Social Affairs’ copyright concurrently with Minister Risma’s visit to Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Dialogue Forum in Geneva, Switzerland on August 22, 2022. Thus, the former mayor of Surabaya said that the Ministry needed to do the same regarding GRUWI aid.

On the same occasion, Minister of Social Affairs also distributed 6 GRUWIs to 5 beneficiaries with disabilities from Inten Soeweno Integrated Center (STIS) in Cibinong and 1 GRUWI to the Chief Commissioner of Disability National Committee, Dante Rigmalia.