Pow Wow

Contact email
Who do you work with?

Our membership and leadership is entirely sex workers. We work with any individual who identifies as a sex worker including female (majority of our membership), male and transgender. We also work with sex workers who identify as LGBT. In addition, we work with allies and allied organisations in Bulawayo and Zimbabwe.

How are sex workers involved in your organisation?

Pow Wow is a collective and any individual who is a sex worker can be a member. As we are membership based, it is for sex workers by sex workers.

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

1. Stigma and discrimination, violence
2. Access to proper and adequate health care services, treatment and support

Describe other areas of your work

We believe in our right to work, hence we run programmes whereby we empower each other with our rights in order to speak with one voice. We also conduct outreaches where we distribute condoms and lubrication and IEC materials with information on health and safety

Region
Country
Zimbabwe