Dozens of sex workers and advocacy groups celebrated International S.e.x Workers Pride as they marched in colourful attire through the streets of Cape Town on Tuesday.
The event also served as an opportunity to vaccinate s.e.x workers against Covid-19 and offer testing for STIs, HIV and access to items such as condoms and lubricant.
The march, organized by the S.e.x Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), started at the Mowbray police station, where s.e.x worker Robyn Montsumi died in police custody in April 2020. From there, the marchers went to the Blackpool Sports Complex in Salt River, where a number of organizations are to erect pop-up information stalls. The S.e.x Worker Theatre group performed.
Organisations that supported the march included Sisonke Gender Justice, the Triangle Project, Pink Drive and the Asijiki Coalition.
Megan Lessing, communication officer for SWEAT, said the march highlighted some of the challenges sex workers face daily. She said many s.e.x workers still do not have access to health services.
Lessing said that because s.e.x work is illegal in South Africa, s.e.x workers are vulnerable to abuse by police, clients and intimate partners. A 2021 national survey showed that female s.e.x workers experienced high levels of violence.
Gulam Petersen, a transgender s.e.x worker and lobby officer at SWEAT, was among those vaccinated on Tuesday.
Petersen, who has been a sex worker for about 30 years, said Covid-19 had prevented many s.e.x workers from going out at night to work unless they were meeting regular clients.
The criminalization “dehumanised” s.e.x workers and drove them underground, Petersen said, where they were vulnerable to “gangsters and pimps”.
Also in attendance was Western Cape MEC for Health Nomafrench Mbombo. She said the fact that s.e.x work is a criminal offence “does have a huge impact” on s.e.x workers’ ability to access health services.
“We are not condoning the issues of s.e.x working but we are saying that they are already here,” she said. “There is no social distancing in s.e.x work”, said Mbombo, so vaccines “must be brought to them in order to protect them and their clients”, she said.
-The Citizen
In other news – How actress Dawn Thandeka King injured her knee
Dawn Thandeka King recently returned to DiepCity after a knee injury on set that forced her out of action for four months.
Loved for her other roles in Lockdown and Uzalo, she shares why her injury was both a blessing in disguise and a curse: Welcome back. What was is it like to be back on set after your injury? Learn More
The post Magosha march with pride in Cape Town appeared first on News365.co.za.
Post a Comment