Passion and Concern for Women Welfare and Empowerment Initiative (PACOWWEI)

Fellow: Enemo Amaka

Grant Year: 2018

City: Abuja, Nigeria

Organization: Passion and Concern for Women Welfare and Empowerment Initiative (PACOWWEI)

Project Title: Support to End Violence Against Sex Workers by Law Enforcement

Project Summary: In Nigeria, female sex workers face high levels of violence, stigma, discrimination and other human rights violations. According to one study in 2014, more than 60% of sex workers faced violence by police officers, although these numbers are likely under reported. In order to address this social injustice and reduce violence against sex workers by law enforcement, PACOWWEI will work closely with a team of trained sex workers, brothel managers, and their allies to advocate for the creation and adoption of standardized guidelines and policy for Abuja police officers on engagement with sex workers by September 2019. The project team will reach out to the Commissioner of Policy and key district policy officers to invite them to participate in the collaborative creation of these guidelines, which will then be adopted as a standard guiding document for all law enforcement agencies in Abuja. The implementation of this policy document would protect thousands of sex workers in Abuja from violence and improve relations between the sex worker population and law enforcement across the state.