Access to accurate sexual reproductive health and rights information from a trusted source is the pillar that informs decision making. Sex workers, particularly those in fishing communities, find this a huge challenge. They grapple with abortion issues, safe sex needs, sex violence, limited access to commodities and outright denial of services in public healthcare facilities due to stigma. In our relentless commitment to promoting inclusive, rights based, comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services, our Musawo Session model was conceptualized to address these needs of marginalized communities.
Musawo is a Luganda word meaning health worker. A musawo session involves health workers visiting the sex workers from their own safe spaces where they work from to hold natural conversations, address myths and misconception, respond to questions and discuss given topic/s of interest in detail. With support from SAAF, FMP has run several musawo sessions benefiting over 360 sex workers in 4 fishing communities.
On the eve of International Women’s Day, we held a Musawo session at the new sex worker hot spot in Kigungu landing site on 7th March 2024 in which we held stigma free conversations with over 30 sex workers. Musawo Nyakato Janet from Mirembe Medical Chambers led a session on safer sex practices where she shared details on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STIs. Ssenga Rose, the leader of the new sex worker’s hotspot said “many of the girls get unwanted pregnancies more often because the condoms are scarce and the few, we have also break because of so much force from clients” she asked us to provide them with commodities like condoms and lubricants.
Ms. Polyne Nabwire, FMP’s Programmes and Communications Lead took the sex workers through the Hesperian health guides SRH apps that they appreciated because they can help them access these services remotely and they are cost friendly, she also reminded them about telemedicine consultation and shared contacts they can use to get assistance. Ms. Josephine, one of the sex worker in this hotspot appreciated FMP’s work saying “we would have many deaths from unsafe abortions had FMP not stepped in to give us information on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies, we look forward to more informative sessions.”
With a goal of providing information that will help these young women and girls prevent unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions, the Musawo Session helped us recognize and understand the unique challenges they face and our team of experienced health workers provided accurate comprehensive information on contraception options, emphasizing choices personalized to the specific needs of sex workers. From condoms to long-term contraceptive options, the session covered a range of preventive measures and safe sex practices. Understanding the difficulties sex workers face in accessing SRH services due to stigma and limited resources, we also provided alternative options and resources to enable the sex workers to go around these challenges and support the FMP team can provide.
