2023-2025: Social economy enterprises and better health for sex workers in Dar es Salaam (unofficial capital of Tanzania)
At Rising Hope, we have long wanted to start a project for sex workers after realizing the close link between drug addiction and sex work. Many sex workers develop an addiction to drugs. And the other way around, many addicts turn to sex work to finance their addiction.
We are now starting this in collaboration with our new partner STEPS Tanzania. STEPS Tanzania works with drug users, sex workers and other HIV vulnerable target groups, mobilizing, capacity building and collaborating with these target groups to create projects led by the target group themselves.
In this project we will have a project coordinator who has been helping other sex workers as a peer worker for over 8 years, and five other senior peer workers who, like the project coordinator, have been sex workers. As peer workers, they are trained to help other sex workers.
The project has been developed on the basis of a comprehensive report on sex workers in Dar es Salaam, prepared by Rising Hope's project manager in collaboration with STEPS Tanzania staff. Based on the report, we have decided that the main objectives of our project will be as follows:
Female sex workers will have an alternative source of income through our five socio-economic outlets
Female sex workers want to improve their own conditions and health through harm reduction programs
We will develop a strategy to advocate for sex workers' rights
We have talked to the women about their dreams, experiences and skills in different types of business. We will therefore start five social economy enterprises and we will have one business in each of the five districts of Dar es Saalam: Kinondoni, Ubungu, Kigamboni, Temeke and Ilala. Each business will be managed by a peer worker in collaboration with five other women.
In addition to this, we will start a harm reduction program that the women in the social economy enterprises will run as a sideline to their business. They will be trained to become peer workers by our project coordinator and five senior peer workers, equipping them to help other sex workers. They will teach about STIs, human rights, safe reporting of violence, distribute condoms, test the women for STIs and help them get treatment when they are infected with STIs such as HIV
Current status:
We have received a grant from CISU of DKK 500,000 and Elisabeth is in Tanzania and together with STEPS she is organizing the various working groups in the project.
