Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme (BHESP) Sunday joined hundreds of women in Nairobi to participate in the Women’s Run 2018 as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign with calls for protection against victims of gender-based violence and shifting the blame from the survivors to the perpetrators. From 25 November, […]
Being the first born in a family of six children meant I had to take care of all the responsibilities. When I was only 15 years old, I travelled from Western Kenya to Nairobi, in order to secure a job. Back then, we all believed that Nairobi was full of money and opportunities. I had […]
Girls and young women account for 67 percent of new HIV infections among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Through the DREAMS Innovation Challenge, which is funded by PEPFAR and managed by JSI, the Bar Hostess Empowerment & Support Programme (BHESP) helps vulnerable adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in Kenya to protect themselves from HIV infection, […]
Dressed in a short black dress, her bag resting in her shoulder, Monicah*, 24, climbs the stairways to the fourth floor of Royal Plaza Building where BHESP Drop-In Centre is located in Roysambu, Nairobi. “I am rushing to attend the Movie Friday as it provides an opportunity for me to learn about HIV prevention interventions […]
A constricted path, iron sheet houses, roadside food vendors are the site that greets you when you visit Kiambiu slums that borders Eastleigh suburb in Nairobi. “Welcome to Kiambiu,” says 42-year-old Jane*, dressed in a black jacket with a smiley face, as she ushers me into her single room. Jane, who is a peer educator […]
Mercy Mutonyi is a champion of HIV prevention programming for female sex workers and vulnerable young women at Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Program. A current AVAC advocacy fellow, Mercy has years of experience working for and with female sex workers and vulnerable women in Kenya. At IAS 2019, she took over the UNICEF HIV […]
“We are in a cage because of the various traumatic experiences we endure in our lives.” Vincent, a counselor, tells us during a trauma training session. Grace, a survivor of rape, relates to this statement. Living with her grandmother who lost her sight ten years ago and a son, she has no choice but to […]
Growing up in an informal settlement in Western Kenya, I lived in a society that labeled young women working in bars as “bad girls” who would teach the good ones “bad manners.” Nobody, not even their families, wanted to be associated with them. My family took in a cousin of mine who had been excommunicated […]
#EQUALFOREACH was the theme for the day. Women and girls gathered in at Kiboro grounds in preparation for the football match. “it’s a sunny and hot day but I am ready to join my fellow women in celebrating international women’s day” Grace* a young girl residing in Mathare said. Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Program […]
The coronavirus has affected workplaces across the country, especially those who work in casual work and the gig economy. Normally, most workplaces have the option of one taking leave while others have opted to close down but still get paid. This, however, is not the case for sex workers. With social distancing insisted upon by […]