It all started with smoking cigarettes. I smoked with these people from another neighbourhood and they always had money for beer and for fun things. Eventually they told me where they got their money from and I thought, ‘this is something that could help me a lot’. I lost my father when I was very young and my mother couldn’t afford the costs of getting us to school – things like transport and uniforms – so I dropped out when I was about 13. I saw sex work as being something that could help me help out at home.
I’m not going to lie to you, I can’t see myself doing anything else, even if I could. This is what I like.
I have been arrested just for being
My first experience with sex work was when I was 17. It was so bad because I took a friend with me who also wanted to learn about sex work and she was arrested by the police. Obviously neither of us even got clients that night. The second time, I was more experienced: I knew I needed to run away from the police. Even knowing that I have been arrested four times – just for walking, just for being!
The way I see sex work is that it is normal work and when people ask how they can also become sex workers we make sure they are going to treat it like a proper job. They need to know that if they are going to be successful, they need to take it seriously: the good parts and the bad parts. At the clinics I never tell that I’m a sex worker One of the bad parts is the police arresting us for no reason. It feels very strange: I can do sensitisation training in the morning and I can be arrested that night! I also get hurt as a sex worker and I need medical support for that – I’d like more check-ups – but I would never tell people at the clinics that I am a sex worker. I know they would mistreat me.
I know my rights now.
But Hands Off has been a light in the darkness. I joined the organisation five years ago. Before that, there were two other organisations I got some help from but they weren’t open-minded. They didn’t actually know our work. They would just give us condoms and that was it. There was no research and no informational materials handed out. Before Hands Off came along, sex work was just a way to get an income for me. I wasn’t thinking of sex work as part of a bigger industry. But now I know so much about our rights, the law and the fight to decriminalise this work. As sex workers, we used to fight among ourselves but even that I have stopped doing because through Hands Off I have learned we must rather talk and negotiate and work together. I never let a policemen try to make me bribe him or let him have sex with me. I know my rights now. It’s also about feelings. Hands Off empowered us by giving us the opportunity to speak up and own our work.
It made me a strong women
The Hands Off people are very strict. They always check on the programmes we are doing such as if we are implementing what we said we would implement. But I can see that, ultimately, being like that benefits us. It made me a strong woman. I even went to Geneva this week to present to the UN about sex worker rights! If I think about wanting to do something that is hard, I think about what I have done with Hands Off and it gives me the courage to do it. It feels good to just talk. My story is out there now. I could stay here all day. I’m not going to lie to you, I can’t see myself doing anything else, even if I could. This is what I like.
The EU Steps Up for Global Health in Uncertain Times
The EU Steps Up for Global Health in Uncertain Times
Today, the European Commission announced its intention to pledge a total of €700 million overall for the 8th Global Fund’s replenishment, subject to the outcome of the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework negotiations.
At a time when budgets are under strain, priorities are competing, and the world feels increasingly unstable, stepping up for people affected by HIV, TB and malaria around the world is very welcome and a clear sign of the EU’s ambition to lead on global health. This commitment will help save millions of lives and keep everyone safer, including in Europe. It will support Africa’s ability to lead on its own health priorities, and build resilience in places under severe stress. This includes countries affected by war, such as Ukraine, where the continuity of HIV and TB services is critical not only for emergency response, but also for long-term recovery. With many donors cutting back on aid, the Commission’s renewed support for the Global Fund sends a much-needed signal of leadership and solidarity.
Sidaction and Aidsfonds are pleased to jointly launch a call for scientific proposals for the year 2026, aimed at accelerating advances in HIV cure research.
The aim of this call for proposals is to fund research projects exploring mechanisms or strategies that will contribute to achieving a cure or remission for HIV. Projects may investigate mechanisms to target the viral reservoir or enhance immune-driven control, the development of new therapeutic concepts, as well as research in the social sciences related to HIV cure or remission.
Through this call, we aim to support research that will ultimately lead to major biomedical breakthroughs, foster social acceptance of cure interventions, and promote an HIV cure accessible to the largest possible number of people living with HIV worldwide.
