By Nyasha Dube
Zvishavane-based organization Womandla Foundation has engaged stakeholders in the mining town to discuss key issues surrounding human rights, key populations, and their access to sexual reproductive health facilities and services.
The two-day workshop which was held last week was attended by health professionals, the Zimbabwe Republic Police’s Victim Friendly Unit (VFU), representatives of key populations, and local community-based organizations.
The organization which currently works with key populations in the mining town under the For Us Girls project, particularly sex workers, sought to map ways through which the targeted populations can access their health rights.
Key populations, as defined by the Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS National Strategic Plan (2021 – 2025), refer to groups such as sex workers and their clients, prisoners, and people who use and inject drugs.
Speaking at the sidelines of the meeting, Norma* a sex worker, said the training was an eye-opener as she learned about her health rights and got a platform to engage with key stakeholders who directly and indirectly ensure that she enjoys her rights.
“Most of the time when we report cases of sexual assault to the police or seek ST| treatment we are often discriminated against and called all sorts of names. Being in the same room with these service providers was an empowering experience as we freely shared our perceptions towards how they treat us,” she said.
Norma added that she will be relaying the information to her peers.
Linda*, another sex worker who attended the workshop says after being discriminated against in society for a long time, she has finally learned about her rights especially her right to sexual reproductive health services.
“Our profession is misunderstood and as a result this affects how we are perceived in society and our access to basic health services. We end up avoiding seeking healthcare facilities, which puts us and our clients at risk,” she said.
A health professional who spoke under condition of anonymity says there are health professionals who are trained to attend to key populations, as most in this group often face stigma and discrimination due to societal religious, and cultural beliefs.
“We have complex cases with these groups, for example, young people who use and inject drugs. Some will come asking for syringes. Giving them endorses their drug use and abuse, at the same time not giving them means ten or more of them will use the same syringe and rapidly spread the HIV infection,” the official said.
Womandla Foundation’s Project lead for the For Us Girls project Esinathi Zimanyowa said the engagement was a success as they brought together key stakeholders to talk about issues of human rights.
“We had a fruitful discussion concerning human rights and key populations, and I can say the workshop was successful to a greater extent as some changed their perceptions and assumptions towards this issue, which is a positive step towards achieving the project’s goals,” she said.
Zimanyiwa added that by the end of the project, they hope to shift mindsets in the mining town regarding human rights, key populations, and their access to SRH services to reduce the high prevalence of HIV.