Pride For Youth Initiative

Who do you work with?

Pride for Youth Initiative is a Transgender led organization that was founded on ‘‘ZERO GROUND’’ in 2018 to mitigate issues of Trans female sex workers ,Gender non-conforming ,Intersex youths in the community by bringing them together to advocate for their rights through community dialogues and mobilizing “TRANS” community on legal Issues.

How are sex workers involved in your organisation?

PFYI’s leadership is made up of transgender youth Men, Women Sex Workers, gender non-conforming youth Sex Workers and intersex youth. The Executive Director and founder of PFYI-Uganda is a transgender youth woman and sex worker activist, the Director of Operations (Programs Manager) is also a transgender youth woman and sex worker, the finance officer is a gender non-conforming youth and a sex worker, the assistant finance is an intersex youth and lastly the Advocacy and communications officer is a trans youth woman hence all the staff members who are part of the management oversee the implementation of the programs target trans people. Our current Board of Directors has five members, of the five only one is a female sex worker, the other two are transgender youth women sex workers, the other one is a gender non-conforming youth and the last one is a n intersex youth hence they also oversee the inclusion or involvement of trans people during implementation of activities and make sure that the objectives and goals of the organization are achieved. Therefore, trans people are in charge of the organisation hence making PFYI a trans led organisation.

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
Advocate for universal access to health services, including primary health care, HIV and sexual and reproductive health services
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

They have had to face physical assault in places like bars where some of them work (sex work) and most commonly suffering eviction by their landlords
They also face challenges which include; detention in cells of persons of the opposite gender identity which leads to abuse of their dignity and detentions beyond the constitutional limit of 48hrs without access to legal counsel, forceful medical examinations, denial of fundamental human rights to equality, dignity and health, rampant discrimination and stigma and among others.

Describe other areas of your work

Leadership Development
We identify workshops and trainings focused on improving our staff and community’s leadership skills.
Access to Sexual Health services
We provide information on sexual health including sexuality, identity, HIV, Hepatitis, and other important topics. We make sure clients and patients know their rights, where to go for services and how to demand them.
Access to Justice
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Information on human rights and the justice system are vital. We provide training to legal officers, lawyers and those in law enforcement to make them accessible to our minority constituency without fear and prejudice.
Alliance Building
We believe in solidarity. We believe in collective action. Our work is focused on partnerships for the greater good. We work with sexual and gender minority groups, legal service organizations, the feminist movement and others as needs arise.
Legal Aid
We provide several forms of legal aid to address unjust laws that worsen the living conditions of LGBT, MSM, and MSW persons in Uganda.

Region
Country
Uganda