Nikat Charitable Association

Who do you work with?

Our primary target groups are Female Sex Workers including Hotel and Bar Sex Workers, Street Sex Workers while indirect sex workers include local drink house workers, Waitresses and Low Income Women. Additionally, Hotel, Bar and local drink house Owners, Community Leaders, Parents, Police, Gate keepers, Pimps and key Service Providers and Authorities are targeted based on their status as duty bearers and supporters.

How are sex workers involved in your organisation?

The association has currently 189 female sex workers as members trained as peer educators. Currently Nikat has 13 permanent and 3 temporary employees, from those 10 employees are former sex workers. It also has 85 volunteers’ sex workers on different outreach projects throughout Ethiopia. 80% of the board are foremer sex workers and 35% of the General Assembly are 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. Societal factors such as human rights violations or social and cultural norms. These norms can include practices, beliefs and laws that stigmatise and disempower certain populations, limiting their ability to access or use HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support services and commodities,
2. Some gatekeepers may force sex workers to take more clients or forego condom use threats or through actual use of violence.

Describe other areas of your work

1. Promotion of behavioural change on the rights of sex workers through mass media
and safe sex through peer education and preparation & distribution of IEC materials.
2. Build the capacity of the beneficiary communities through training, forming and supporting female sex workers self-saving groups.
3. Provide youth-friendly drop in centres for female sex workers and enhance the participation and partnership of stakeholders to ensure sustainability.

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埃塞俄比亚