The Most Supportive

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Who do you work with?

The Most Supportive is a youth-led NGO that advocates for human rights of sex workers. We program for GBTQ ( Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) sex workers and their sexual partners living in Lagos, Nigeria. Although we aim to program for LGBTQ spectrum of individuals who transact sex in the possible future.

How are sex workers involved in your organisation?

TMS constitutes four advisory boards of trustees which include two queer sex workers, a gay man, and one female sex worker. The Management staff also includes 80% of sex workers. TMS also employs sex workers as  consultants, trainers, instructors, and artisans for any of its programs or community-led outreaches.

Which of NSWP priority areas does your organisation work on?
Oppose the criminalisation and other legal oppression of sex work and support its recognition as work
Critique the trafficking paradigm that conflates representations of sex work, migration, and mobility
Advocate for universal access to health services, including primary health care, HIV and sexual and reproductive health services
Speak out about violence against sex workers, including violence from police, institutions, clients, and intimate partners, while challenging the myth that sex work is inherently gender-based violence
Oppose human rights abuses, including coercive programming, mandatory testing, raids and forced rehabilitation
Challenge stigma and discrimination against sex workers, their families and partners, and others involved in sex work
Advocate for the economic empowerment and social inclusion of sex workers as sex workers
What are the two main challenges that the sex workers you work with face

For gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people who transact sex, they experience multi-layered issues stemming from the moralist perception held by the society and the law against sex work and unconventional sexual expression. In 2014, the federal government passed the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act into law, effectively criminalising sexual relations between people of the same sex.Another challenge is the existing societal perceptions which has translated into acts by the state and non state actors against sex workers and also been codified into laws that impinge their fundamental human rights.

Describe other areas of your work

Human rights.Providing Health, and SRHR needsStrenghtening the leadership and involvement of sex workers in decision making processes on local and national levelsAdvocate for the removal of laws and activities that criminalize sex work in NigeriaProviding life skills training e.g assertiveness, negotiation skills, and decision-making skills.

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نيجيريا