Getting help from the police is sometimes challenging for sex workers. As a peer educator, I go around and try to understand how my peers are doing and help them with getting medication and assist them with contacting the police when their rights are violated.” WONETHA has taught us about our rights and how to protect ourselves better. Now the ladies can come and speak for themselves. “Before this project, we had no voice and we were taken as mere sex workers. A peer educator is a person you go to when you face any challenges. The peer educators like Mirembe are in key roles as they reach out to other sex workers to form groups, educate them and connect them with health workers and the police. WONETHA educates women on sexual and reproductive health and rights, Ugandan laws and on their human rights. Mirembe’s story is very common and female sex workers face a lot of exploitation and violence in Uganda. Fortunately, all my children are negative,” Mirembe explains. I didn’t even know how to use a condom and got HIV. So, I worked only for food and accommodation. Sometimes a customer would come but pay the owner of the bar and I wouldn’t get paid. You would work in the bar but also sell sex and our boss was selling us. “In the past when I was starting sex work, we worked in bars. When joining the project Mirembe was chosen as a peer educator by her fellow sex workers. Women’s Organization Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA) works with women to improve their access to justice and health services. Mirembe is one of the female sex workers who have benefitted from a project by a WPHF-Spotlight Initiative. And I have been a sex worker for 13 years.” “My name is Mirembe, I am 32 years and I have three children. Mirembe: “We help each other out, we are stronger together.” 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence.Gender equality matters in COVID-19 response.
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