Hundreds of women gathered at the Huruma Grounds to witness a women football tournament organized by Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme (BHESP) to mark International Women’s Day on Thursday.
The tournament dubbed “Scoring for PrEP” was aimed at creating awareness on how young women can boldly fight HIV through the use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP).
The one-day tournament brought together 6 women team from Roysambu DIC, Jogoo Road DIC, Kariobangi DIC, Knight Nurse, Sex Worker Outreach Programme (SWOP) and Kenya Sex Workers Alliance (KESWA).
While officially opening the tournament, Mercy Kamau from jhpiego said the event will provide an opportunity to create demand for PrEP use among young girls and women adding that it’s the effective way to prevent new HIV infections.
“As you play soccer today I wish you the best of luck and let’s remember to pass the message about PrEP. Your risk of getting HIV from sex can be even lower if you combine PrEP with condoms and other prevention methods,” Kamau said.
On his part, BHESP’s Program Manager Sedaula Mwangi said the event provided an opportunity for women to take control of their health and was a celebration of women’s social, political, and cultural achievements from the past and present.
“This event aims to create awareness on PrEP among high-risk women and girls. We will also use the platform to call for collective action and shared ownership for driving gender parity,” Mwangi added.
Jogoo Road DIC clinched the trophy after beating Kariobangi DIC 4-0 in the finals while Roysambu DIC secured the third place beating SWOP 1-0.
“This is a good opportunity for partners to come together and work towards a common goal of eliminating HIV and AIDS. I commend BHESP for coming up with this noble idea,” said Anthony from SWOP.
Lastly, BHESP’s project officer Laveria Mwai said the event provided a good opportunity for women to showcase their talent while at the same time advocating for the use of PrEP.
“The event has been successful and I believe it will press for progress and forge positive visibility of women,” Mwai concluded.
