Writing their own stories: Self-identified sex workers in Nigeria

Like many self-identified sex workers in Nigeria, Josephine Aseme has experienced violence and discrimination in her family and community. “We are the kind of women who have experienced first-hand discrimination by people we love, by the larger society, and even the people that are meant to protect us,” she shares. 

In response to such treatment, she and other women set up the Greater Women Initiative for Health and Rights (GWIHR) in Southern Nigeria because “[we] believe that our choice of job shouldn't cost us our life.” 

A movement born from discrimination 

Cultural and religious norms in Nigeria brand women and trans* sex workers as outcasts and unworthy, putting them at heightened risk of violence. Josephine explains that the risk comes “from state actors, from families, from the police, and even brothel owners,” and that the stigma “makes it very difficult for people to even speak up.” 

She says that at GWIHR, “We do not just want to change the narrative; we want other self-identified sex workers not to go through the pains we went through… We are allowing our community to write their own stories.”  

Despite the daily challenges, GWIHR is making tangible progress. Its current multi-pronged initiative, supported by the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women, has: 

• improved access to specialist support services to survivors of violence who are self-identified women and lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (LBTQ) sex workers; 

• raised awareness about the rights of sex workers; and  

• fostered accountability. 

Access to services 

Over the past year, GWIHR has referred 491 survivors of violence to comprehensive post-violence health and legal services, including first aid, emergency contraception, HIV prevention, mental health counselling, forensic examinations, legal aid, restraining orders and emergency shelter. Remarkably, these services supported nearly 93% of sex workers who reported violence in Rivers State, a testament to GWIHR’s referral and support system.  

GWIHR’s efforts have also led to the integration of a toll-free gender-based violence reporting line into the Sex Workers Violence Alert Tool, a GWIHR-led media campaign in Rivers State. So far, 324 calls have been made via the toll-free line, reflecting growing acceptance among survivors. 

Rights awareness training 

Central to GWIHR’s approach is empowering sex workers to advocate for their rights through direct training and peer-to-peer exchange. So far, 2,520 sex workers have been trained and mobilized to challenge abuses and demand access to post-violence services. The organization’s training of trainer (ToT) model means the knowledge is spread throughout the community. 

Josephine says they don’t just use “a one-size-fits-all” approach. “With older sex workers, we use information, education and communication materials as prompts to encourage dialogues, while with younger sex workers, the peer-to-peer, open conversation model works more effectively.” 

Building institutional accountability 

GWIHR’s advocacy has driven systemic change. The Rivers State National Human Rights Commission has revised the violence case management framework how gender-based violence cases are managed to ensure that the needs and dignity of sex worker survivors are explicitly addressed. Collaboration with five police divisions led to the creation of a violence case tracking system, increasing documented cases by 42%[1] and ensuring more transparent, survivor-centred handling of violence complaints. 

Through community hearings and regular dialogues, GWIHR has also fostered greater accountability among law enforcement, the Ministry of Justice and national human rights bodies, giving survivors platforms to voice their experiences.  

Reflecting on GWIHR’s work, Josephine says, “We want sex workers to rewrite their stories, that it is their choice, it is their body, they must be the ones to make decisions on how they want to live their life without being stigmatized or dehumanized... We are not going backwards.” 

[1] Compared to project baseline.