Now, with the efforts of progressive lawyers, doctors and some charismatic sex workers, suddenly prostitutes are being told that they are powerful–that they can fight the pandemic like never before. Inside the gated compound of an ordinary house off Salaama Road, in Makindye, some 55 sex workers yesterday met under a white tarpaulin to hear this hopeful message by Dr Ben Twinomugisha, a Makerere University law professor: “You are very strong,” Dr Twinomugisha said, drawing approval. “You can handle five men in a single night.
Now, with the efforts of progressive lawyers, doctors and some charismatic sex workers, suddenly prostitutes are being told that they are powerful–that they can fight the pandemic like never before. Inside the gated compound of an ordinary house off Salaama Road, in Makindye, some 55 sex workers yesterday met under a white tarpaulin to hear this hopeful message by Dr Ben Twinomugisha, a Makerere University law professor: “You are very strong,” Dr Twinomugisha said, drawing approval. “You can handle five men in a single night. You actually dispel the notion that women are the weaker sex.” His speech sounded like a sermon in courage, telling the women to reject the sympathy of those who look down upon them.
Increasingly, a small community of sex workers is being emboldened to challenge the law, to speak openly about what they think are their rights. They are particularly hostile to what they perceive to be the hypocrisy of authorities in the fight against AIDS, and sometimes they point out that the men who despise them in public are their nightly clients.
“My dream is to see sex workers come out and accept themselves,” says Macklean Kyomya, 27, who coordinates the Women’s Organisation Network for Human Rights Advocacy, the organisers of the Makindye event. Having been a sex worker since the age of 16, being empowered has allowed this recent graduate of Nsamizi Training Institute to be more selective in her choice of her clients, a position that most of her colleagues have yet to reach. “We are training them to be trainers, so we wanted people who can speak some English,” she said .
They were not being told to quit the oldest profession; they were being asked to embrace it with responsibility, guile and resourcefulness. If they could do this, for example by insisting on their clients wearing condoms, they could accomplish a lot more in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The message seemed to resonate well among the sex workers, including two men among them.
Read compete story here: http://allafrica.com/stories/201004280159.html