Remember Sex Work during the 16 Days

Sex work can simply be understood as the exchange of sexual services for some form of monetary value. More officially, UNAIDS (2001) defines sex work as “any agreement between two or more persons in which the objective is exclusively limited to the sexual act and ends with that, and which involves preliminary negotiations for a price”. Under Act…

“We Fit in the Society by Force” Sex Work and Feminism in Africa

Ntokozo Yingwana. (2018). “We Fit in the Society by Force”: Sex Work and Feminism in Africa. Meridians, 17 (2): 279–295. Duke University Press [OPEN ACCESS for first 3-months]. Abstract: What does it mean to be an African sex worker feminist? In answering this question this essay draws from two qualitative studies with two African sex…

“I’m not a feisty bitch, I’m a feminist!” Feminism in AWAKE! Women of Africa

Yingwana, N. (2017). “I’m not a feisty bitch, I’m a feminist!” Feminism in AWAKE! Women of Africa. Feminist Africa (22). [OPEN ACCESS] Abstract: Although being an African, a sex worker and a feminist are often considered to be incongruent identities, in certain embodiments they intersect and inform each other. This Profile highlights what feminism can learn…

Sex Workers Organising for Change: Self-representation, community mobilisation, and working conditions (SA chapter)

Yingwana N. (2018). South Africa. In Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW)’s Sex Workers Organising for Change: Self-representation, community mobilisation, and working conditions. Abstract: Sex worker rights organisations are creatively responding to violence, exploitation and other abuses within the sex industry, including instances of human trafficking, according to a new report published by the Global…

Why migration patterns are so important to designing responses to HIV

Significant strides have been made in the global response to HIV. But there is an urgent need to rethink the ways that prevention and treatment programmes are developed and implemented. There is a body of knowledge that highlights the important role of migration and mobility in mediating the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this, current responses fail to…

Sex work evidence symposium at House of Commons

‪#‎DecriminaliseSexWork‬ Hey look what I found – a video of me speaking at the decriminalisation of sex work evidence symposium at the House of Commons (yes, the UK parliament), which was organised by the English Collective of Prostitutes last year. I was representing the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce. I’m told the summary video of this symposium…

#MoreThanMyBody campaign

Thanks to The Red Elephant Foundation for including me in the ‪#‎MoreThanMyBody‬ campaign. The book I’m holding was edited by Andrea Cornwall and Kate Hawkins (of Pamoja). Both of whom I’ve had the privilege of working with and being mentored by while studying at the Institute of Development Studies (University of Sussex). Thanks Paul Boyce for forcing us out of our comfort zones during the ‘Sexuality and…

#Storymakers2016: 24-Hours “Round the World” Twitter chat

I recently took part in this #Storymakers2016 ‪#‎SouthernAfrican‬ Twitter chat on ‘How do you make storytelling a part of your organisation’s culture?’. I shared my experience of facilitating digitalstorytelling workshops, co-producing the ‘In Her Heels‘ sensitisation training toolkit/ story-card game, and co-editing the publication ‘Sex Workers and Sex Work in South Africa: A Guide for Journalists and…

Sex work, migration and HIV: South Africa’s health system can – and should – take a lead

Last week saw the launch of the South African Health Review (SAHR) 2016 edition at the Health Systems Trust Conference in Johannesburg. The conference convened around 300 healthcare workers, policy- and decision-makers, civil society groupings and academics in a bid to strengthen South Africa’s efforts towards the global public health agenda.

Migration, Mobility and Marginalisation: Consequences for Sexual and Gender Minorities (IDS Policy Briefing 118)

Wood, S. (2016). Migration, Mobility and Marginalisation: Consequences for Sexual and Gender Minorities, IDS Policy Briefing 118, Brighton: IDS. Abstract: As a strategy to avoid discrimination, violence and economic marginalisation, sexual and gender non-conforming people often turn to migration as a route to achieve independence and build social capital. Recent studies by the Institute of…

Mapping the law on sex work

Click on the screenshot below to go to the ‘Mapping the Law on Sex Work’ Storify:https://storify.com/PamojaUK/mapping-the-law-on-sex-work

“Prostitution is a human right,” said nobody ever

[First published on the Why Dev website on 21 August 2015.] By Cheryl Overs & Ntokozo Yingwana You may have seen the Twitter storm that surrounded the recent Amnesty International bi-annual International Council Meeting in Dublin last week, where delegates discussed a range of issues and, among other things, adopted a resolution that calls for the decriminalisation…