Ayanda Denge
Ayanda Denge is a South African trans woman and sex worker. She is an advocate for transgender people, sex workers, and for the decriminalisation of sex work. She is the chairman of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT). Denge has said that, "being transgender is ... a triple dose of stigmatisation and discrimination".[1]
Early life
Denge comes from the Xhosa people, and grew up in the city of Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape.[2]
Career
Denge began work in Johannesburg, and later travelled to other southern African cities including Harare, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Victoria Falls.[2] She has been a sex worker for over 15 years.[2]
Denge worked as outreach co-ordinator for the Sisonke Sex Worker Movement (Sisonke) for two years.[2]
Denge is the chairman of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT).[2] She is an advocate for transgender people, sex workers, and for the decriminalisation of sex work.[1] In her role with SWEAT, Denge has trained 50 peer educators, and has worked as a motivational speaker on "cancer awareness, HIV/AIDS awareness, and human rights advocacy issues related to sex work".[2]
Denge spoke at the August 2015 launch in Cape Town of the Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work.[3] The organisation includes sex workers, activists, and advocates and defenders of human rights, and the steering committee consists of the Sisonke Sex Worker Movement (Sisonke), the Women's Legal Centre (WLC), the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) and Sonke Gender Justice.[3]
Denge was interviewed by the Daily Vox while attending the 2016 International AIDS Conference in Durban, "Being transgender is not a double dose, but it's a triple dose of stigmatisation and discrimination."[1]
Personal life
Denge lives in Cape Town, South Africa.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d "Transgendered sex workers face a triple threat of stigma - The Daily Vox". thedailyvox.co.za. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f "Ayanda Denge - SWEAT". sweat.org.za. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
- ^ a b "Coalition launched to decriminalise sex work". groundup.org.za. Retrieved 11 November 2017.