When I dare to be powerful

Akina Mama wa Afrika has launched a new book 'When I Dare to Be Powerful', a collection of herstories of five women engaged in sex work in East Africa. This is the first publication of its kind in the region, and seeks to contribute towards African epistemology on sexuality issues, with a particular goal of supporting the sex worker rights movement building agenda.

It was therefore really encouraging to welcome almost 100 people to the launch of this book that is the result of a journey that AMwA begun with a group of sex worker activists almost two years ago. The book captures snippets of the lives of five powerful women who talk about their families, relationships, health, spirituality, and positive and negative experiences with sex work.

Just as the interview and writing process was transformational, so was the event in Addis. As the audience listened to Daughtie Akoth of Kenya and Daisy Nakato of Uganda share parts of their stories, we could see the transformation happening before our eyes. Although one person in the audience assumed that we were ‘preaching to the converted’ it became apparent during the question and answer session that there were in fact a number of people that were engaging with the discussion of sex worker rights for the very first time, and still held negative perceptions about the industry and the people engaged in it. We also later discovered that when Daughtie and Daisy began to speak a lot of people in the room were surprised that there were sex workers in the room, and that they could speak for themselves in a powerful and articulate manner.

The book launch was held immediately after the session titled, ‘Sexual Rights, the Law and Legal Reforms,’ where both Daughtie and Daisy spoke as part of the AMwA panel, led by Christine Butegwa. If nothing else, participants walked away with Daughtie’s basic and yet powerful message – ‘Sex work is not who I am, it is just what I do!’

As a result of the bold activism that both Daisy and Daughtie have been doing on the front-lines of the sex worker rights movement, they have recently been appointed country coordinators for the Pan-African Sex Worker Alliance, through which they will continue to advocate for the sexual health and rights of women all over the continent. What’s more, they both made strong declarations about their long term goals, one of which is to sit on the African Union Commission, and the other is to become a lawyer to defend the rights of sex workers in Africa.

Following such moving remarks, the demand for the expansion of this initiative, to collect the stories of other ‘forgotten’ women in Africa, therefore came as no surprise.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Please contact Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) to request a copy of 'When I Dare to Be Powerful'.
* Zawadi Nyong’o is the author of 'When I Dare to Be Powerful', published by Akina Mama wa Afrika.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.