Regional updates: Africa

Our members are listed on the left or you can click the red umbrellas on the map.

Regional Board Members

Pamela Chakuvinga (Sisonke), South Africa

Patrick Fotso (Alcondoms Cameroun), Cameroon

Regional Network

The African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA) is a pan-African network of sex worker-led national networks and national and local organisations led by and/or working with female, male and transgender sex workers. It was formed in 2009 by sex workers and women’s activists and non-governmental organisations and is now based in Nairobi, Kenya.

News articles from Africa region are listed below.

Regional updates

16th مايو 2023 | Region: Africa

Platform Layalat, a network advocating in Morocco for the rights of sex workers in general and transgender women sex workers in particular, released the following statement regarding the lack of representation of transgender women in the country dialogue for the new grant request to the Global Fund.

4th مايو 2023 | Region: Africa

On 21 March, Ugandan lawmakers approved new legislation that, if adopted, would violate multiple fundamental rights and criminalise the LGBTQI+ community.

NSWP member organisation Transgender Equality Uganda explains more about the bill, its penalties, and its consequences.

5th أبريل 2023 | Region: Africa

NSWP member organisation Cairo 52 last week announced the first annual Egyptian Pride Day of Sex Workers. After discussions within the Egyptian sex worker community, the date of 2 April 2023 was chosen. The 2nd of April is a significant date as it is the anniversary of the Battle of Wazzir between Egyptian sex workers and British colonial troops.

26th أكتوبر 2021 | Region: Africa

The African Sex Worker Alliance (ASWA) has developed a sex workers’ murder monitoring tool for mapping murders and other cases of violence against sex workers in Africa.

Announcing the launch of the tool, ASWA said: “There is lack of sufficient, consolidated, verified and analysed data on a single report on violence against sex workers in Africa.”

11th مايو 2021 | Region: Africa

UMANDE, HODSAS and ACODHU-TS have released a statement addressing an upsurge of acts of violence against sex workers in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This new statement follows others that have so far been ignored by the Congolese government.

11th يناير 2021 | Region: Africa

HODSAS (Homme Pour le Droit et La Sante Sexuelle) have released a statement denouncing an increase in harassment in DRC, and highlighting the disproportionate costs of COVID-19 tests at the borders of DRC-Rwanda, and DRC-Burundi.

7th ديسمبر 2020 | Region: Africa

The Sex Workers Academy Africa (SWAA) held its 24th session last month, with 18 activists from three different African countries: Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. The Academy ran for 7-days from 23rd to 29th November 2020 and involved female, male and transgender sex workers.

1st ديسمبر 2020 | Region: Africa

The Sex Workers Academy Africa (SWAA) has held its 24th session this month, with 18 activists from three different African countries: Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. The Academy ran for 7-days from 23rd to 29th November 2020 and involved female, male and transgender sex workers.

Launched in 2014, SWAA is run by the African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA). SWAA is a learning programme for community empowerment and capacity building, led by and for sex workers. It is implemented by Kenya Sex Workers Alliance (KESWA) in Nairobi, Kenya, on behalf of ASWA (KESWA is also a member of ASWA).

1st سبتمبر 2020 | Region: Africa

Coalition Afrique de l’Ouest et du Centre pour le travail du sexe (CAfOC-TS) have issued a statement reporting on the human rights abuses and violence experienced by sex workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in francophone African countries.

CAfOC-TS – which is made up of organisations including UMANDE, And Soppeku, Blety, AFAZ - Association Femme Amazone, Alcondoms Cameroun, YERELON+, and HODSAS – work to address the problems faced by French speaking sex workers in Central and West Africa.

20th أغسطس 2020 | Region: Africa

New Frame have written a feature on the impact of COVID-19 on sex workers in South Africa, looking specifically at the damaging impacts of criminalisation and the need to maintain a focus on the long-term policy changes that position sex workers as equal and protected citizens.

21st يوليو 2020 | Region: Africa

AP News has published a report on the impact of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic on sex workers living with HIV. Speaking with sex workers and organisations from Rwanda and Zimbabwe, the article highlights the multiple ways that the current crisis is affecting those who do not have access to government support schemes.

11th مايو 2020 | Region: Africa

Last week, the Uganda Key Populations Consortium (UKPC) and other civil society organisations released a statement strongly denouncing raids, arrests, extortion, and violent attacks targeting sex workers, barmaids and other vulnerable communities by police, Local Defense Units (LDUs), and Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) during the response to the spread of COVID-19.

11th مايو 2020 | Region: Africa

A finales de febrero, el segundo caso de COVID-19 fue documentado en un país africano. Desde entonces, la enfermedad se ha expandido por toda la región, resultando en unos 32.000 casos confirmados y alrededor de 1.400 muertes.

Las personas que ejercen el trabajo sexual en Senegal, África del oeste, están sufriendo dentro del contexto de la pandemia, el cual ha expuesto las desigualdades existentes y afecta desproporcionalmente a la gente ya criminalizada, marginalizada; y viviendo en situaciones financieras precarias.  

11th مايو 2020 | Region: Africa

A la fin de février, le deuxième cas de COVID-19 a été documenté dans un pays africain. Depuis, la maladie s’est propagée dans chaque région, avec pour résultat environ 32,000 cas confirmés et autour de 1,400 décès.

Les travailleurSEs du sexe au Sénégal, en Afrique de l’ouest, se trouvent en difficulté dans ce contexte de pandémie, qui a exposé les inégalités existantes et qui affecte de manière disproportionnée les personnes déjà criminalisées, marginalisées et vivant dans des situations financièrement précaires.