Fondée en mars 2024 par Crespille Pige, Crépine Tossou, Joyce D’Almeida and Sephora Zouzou, Inclusion Togo s’adresse aux hommes transgenres, aux femmes transgenres, aux personnes queer et intersexuées. La principale mission de l’organisation est d’assurer le bien-être des personnes trans, queer et intersexes dans un environnement sûr.

Founded in March 2024 by Crespille Pige, Crépine Tossou, Joyce D’Almeida and Sephora Zouzou, Inclusion Togo caters to trans men and trans women, queer and intersex people. The main work of the organisation is to ensure the well-being of trans, queer and intersex people in a safe environment.

La vision / Vision

Un Togo inclusif et équitable ou toutes les personnes transgenres, queer et intersexe en particulier les plus vulnérables (travailleuses de sexe, personnes vivant avec le VIH, sans abri) vivent dans la dignité, jouissent de leurs droits fondamentaux et participant pleinement au développement social, économique et culturel.

An inclusive and equitable Togo where all transgender, queer and intersex people, especially the most vulnerable (sex workers, people living with HIV, the homeless), live in dignity, enjoy their fundamental rights and participate fully in social, economic and cultural development.

Mission

Œuvrer pour l’inclusion, la protection et l’autonomisation des personnes transgenres, queer et intersexe vulnérables au Togo, à travers des actions communautaires et des plaidoyers.

To work towards the inclusion, protection and empowerment of vulnerable transgender, queer and intersex people in Togo, through community actions and advocacy.

Objectifs / Objectives

Renforcer la prévention, la prise en charge du VIH chez les personnes trans, queer et intersexe, en promouvant l’autonomisation financière chez les plus vulnérables.

Strengthening HIV prevention and care for trans, queer, and intersex people, while promoting financial empowerment among the most vulnerable.

Domaines de travail / Areas of work

• Renforcement des de la prévention et prise en charge chez les personnes trans, queer et intersexe dans un contexte ou la prévalence du VIH chez les personnes transgenres est de 35%.
• Renforcement de l’autonomisation financière des personnes trans, queer et intersexe.
• Renforcement de l’estime de soi des personnes trans, queer et intersexe.

• Strengthening prevention and care for trans, queer, and intersex people in a context where the HIV prevalence among transgender people is 35%.
• Strengthening the financial empowerment of trans, queer, and intersex people.
• Strengthening the self-esteem of trans, queer, and intersex people.

Contacter / Contact

Email: inclusiontogo68@gmail.com
00228 90830769
Facebook

Founded on 12 June 2023 by Kyazze Arnold and Nyombi Enoch, Kajiado North for Empowerment and Social Welfare Outreach (KNESWO) works with queer refugees, gender diverse migrant sex workers, and trans sex workers. Since its establishment, KNESWO has been at the forefront of advocating for the rights of marginalised queer refugee sex workers in Kenya. The organisation has provided critical support through legal aid, mental health services, and community empowerment programmes. Through its advocacy efforts, KNESWO has increased awareness about the discrimination and violence faced by its members and has successfully mobilised resources to create safer spaces for queer and trans sex workers.

Vision

A world where marginalised queer refugees, gender-diverse migrant sex workers, and trans sex workers are respected, empowered, and free from stigma. We celebrate diversity as the strength of our community, ensuring equal access to opportunities, rights, and safety for all.

Mission

To empower and unite marginalised queer refugees, gender-diverse migrant sex workers, and trans sex workers by fostering safety, advocacy, and leadership. KNESWO builds an inclusive community that celebrates diversity in culture, gender, and background, ensuring access to resources, rights, and support.

Goals

• Provide mental health and psychosocial support, including counselling and group therapy.
• Advocate for policy reforms and challenge stigma affecting queer refugee and migrant sex workers.
• Offer legal and protection empowerment for members facing discrimination or legal challenges.
• Facilitate health interventions through access to SRHR education and preventive healthcare.
• Conduct research and documentation to inform advocacy and policy change.
• Build a strong movement for marginalised communities, focusing on leadership and resilience.

Contact

Email: kneswo@gmail.com / consorti2022@gmail.com
+254707480048
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LinkedIn
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Founded in Nigeria in March 2022, Supporting Trans, Intersex, and Gender Non-Conforming People Initiative (STAG) was initially a peer-support, community organising and safe space network for trans, intersex, gender diverse and gender non-conforming people from around 2018/2019. STAG Initiative works with womxn, trans, intersex, gender-diverse, gender non-
conforming people, and other underserved LGBTQI+ community members in Nigeria. The network was begun by Kelsey Brookes, Claudia, and Gloria Henshaw (Juniper), and 16 other trans, intersex, gender diverse and LGBQ+ community members. The organisation’s work particularly centres people who experience multiple layers of exclusion, including trans women, trans men, intersex persons, gender-diverse persons, LGBTQI+ youth, survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), people living with HIV, sex workers, displaced persons, and community members facing homelessness, family rejection, violence, health exclusion, and legal insecurity.

STAG Initiative works at the intersection of advocacy, empowerment, safety, health justice, and human rights for womxn, trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming people in Nigeria. Their main work includes crisis response, safe housing support, gender-based violence response, legal and psychosocial referrals, SRHR and HIV-related advocacy, community documentation, leadership development, movement building, and policy advocacy. They also create safe spaces where community members can access care, information, support, and collective power. STAG was born out of a deep collective frustration with the violence and discrimination faced by the communities mentioned above, and their work is rooted in ensuring that no one is left behind or erased. STAG advocates for justice, provides safe spaces and services, supports GBV survivors, strengthens community-led crisis response, empowers marginalised communities, and challenges the systems that produce violence, exclusion, and discrimination. STAG was registered in 2025.

Vision

A society where everyone, including trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming people, can thrive and have full access to comprehensive healthcare, education, and empowerment, when they want it and how they want it. A future where no one has to hide who they are, explain their existence, or negotiate their dignity before accessing care, safety, education, or opportunity.

Co-founder, Kelsey Brookes says,

“As a visionary leader, I strive to create inclusive spaces and drive systemic change to ensure that every individual, regardless of gender identity, can thrive and be treated with dignity and respect.”

Source: https://www.vitalvoices.org/fellow/kingsley-kalu/

Mission

To create an inclusive society where anyone, regardless of gender identity, can live freely and safely.

Goals/Objectives

• Promote the safety, dignity, and human rights of trans, intersex, gender-diverse, gender non- conforming people, and other underserved LGBTQI+ communities in Nigeria.
• Provide crisis response, safe housing, psychosocial support, legal referrals, and survivor-centred care for community members facing violence, homelessness, family rejection, or insecurity.
• Advance access to inclusive healthcare, SRHR services, HIV prevention, treatment literacy, and gender-affirming information and support.
• Strengthen community leadership, especially among trans, intersex, and gender-diverse young people.
• Document community experiences, rights violations, movement histories, and evidence for advocacy and policy change.
• Build solidarity across generations so that older and younger trans, intersex, and gender-diverse activists can share knowledge, context, experience, strategies, and skills.
• Advocate for laws, policies, systems, and services that respect bodily autonomy, inclusion, safety, and justice.

Focus areas

• Crisis Response and Safe Housing — STAG supports trans, intersex, gender-diverse, gender non-conforming, and LGBTQI+ community members experiencing violence, homelessness, family rejection, threats, forced displacement, or urgent safety needs. This includes safe housing, emergency relocation support, case management, and referral coordination.
• Gender-Based Violence and Legal Protection — STAG provides survivor-centred support for community members affected by gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, blackmail, family violence, public harassment, and rights violations. The organisation also supports referrals to legal, psychosocial, and protection services.
• SRHR, HIV, and Health Justice — STAG advocates for access to inclusive healthcare, HIV services, SRHR information, treatment literacy, mental health support, and gender-affirming care information. Their work responds to the
  exclusion of trans, intersex, and gender-diverse people from mainstream health systems.
• Trans and Intersex Movement Building — STAG creates safe spaces for leadership development, peer learning, advocacy training, and community mobilisation. The organisation is particularly interested in strengthening intergenerational learning within the trans and intersex movement, because of the widening gap between older and younger activists. This gap is leading to the loss of knowledge, political context, lived experience, advocacy skills, and movement memory.
• Documentation, Research, and Data-Driven Advocacy — STAG documents lived realities, human rights violations, health access barriers, and community histories. The organisation uses evidence to support advocacy, policy engagement, donor engagement, and movement learning.
• Climate Justice and Social Protection — STAG integrates gender and climate justice by recognising how crisis, flooding, displacement, poverty, and environmental insecurity affect trans, intersex, gender-diverse, and other
  marginalised communities.
• Economic Empowerment and Education — STAG supports access to skills, education, empowerment opportunities, and leadership pathways for underserved community members.

Contact

Email: info@staginitiative.org / tgnpn.ng@gmail.com
+2348137760417
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Instagram
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TikTok
YouTube

Fondée en janvier 2022, Féministes Dynamiques Trans-Actions+, anciennement connu sous le nom de Féministes Dynamiques Trans-Actions LBQ+ (FDTA-LBQ+) avant 2026, est une organisation à but non lucratif au Bénin travaillant principalement avec les filles et femmes lesbiennes, les femmes bisexuelles, les femmes trans, les femmes queer, les travailleuses du sexe, les filles et femmes en situation de vulnérabilité, les hommes trans, et les jeunes minorités de sexe, de genre et d’orientation sexuelle. L’enregistrement de l’organisation est en cours.

L’organisation travaille principalement à promouvoir les droits, la visibilité et le pouvoir des femmes et personnes LBTQ+ à travers :

• la formation et le renforcement de capacités,
• le plaidoyer féministe et communautaire,
• l’accompagnement juridique,
• la recherche-action,
• la création d’espaces sûrs,
• la mobilisation de ressources,
• l’éducation aux droits humains,
• l’accompagnement des femmes analphabètes dans l’informatique et la connaissance de leurs droits,
• le soutien aux femmes en situation d’urgence, notamment pour leur relocalisation, et
• le travail sur l’accès à l’avortement sécurisé au Bénin.

Founded in January 2022, Dynamic Feminists Trans-Actions+, formerly known as Dynamic Feminists Trans-Actions LBQ+ (FDTA-LBQ+) before 2026, is a non-profit organisation in Benin working primarily with lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer (LBQ) women and girls, sex workers, girls and women in vulnerable situations, trans men, and youth from sex, gender and sexual orientation minorities. The registration of the organisation is in progress.

The organisation works to promote the rights, visibility, and empowerment of women and LGBTQ+ people through:

• training and capacity building,
• feminist and community advocacy,
• legal support,
• action research,
• the creation of safe spaces,
• resource mobilisation,
• human rights education,
• support for illiterate women in computer skills and knowledge of their rights,
• support for women in emergency situations, particularly for their relocation, and
• work on access to safe abortion in Benin.

La vision / Vision

Féministes Dynamiques Trans-Actions+ souhaite aspire à une société équitable, inclusive, décoloniale et libératrice où les jeunes, dans toute leur diversité — en particulier les jeunes filles et femmes lesbiennes, bisexuelles, transgenres et queer (LBTQ) — vivent sans peur, jouissent pleinement de leurs droits fondamentaux et participent. Féministes Dynamiques souhaite émerger comme une force motrice du féminisme inclusif au Bénin et en Afrique francophone.

The organisation aspires to a fair, inclusive, decolonial, and liberating society where young people, in all their diversity—especially lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LBTQ) girls and women—live without fear, fully enjoy their fundamental rights, and actively participate in the decision-making processes that affect them. Dynamic Feminists Trans-Actions+ wants to emerge as a driving force for inclusive feminism in Benin and Francophone Africa.

Mission

Leur mission est d’être un creuset national inclusif, féministe et transaffirmatif, qui agit comme un pont entre les communautés marginalisées et les institutions locales, nationales et internationales. L’organisation travaillons à promouvoir les droits, la visibilité et le pouvoir des jeunes minorités de sexe, de genre et d’orientation sexuelle, à renforcer les capacités, à créer des espaces sûrs, à mener des actions de plaidoyer, de formation, de recherche-action et d’accompagnement juridique.

Their mission is to be an inclusive, feminist, and trans-affirmative national hub that acts as a bridge between marginalised communities and local, national, and international institutions. The organisation works to promote the rights, visibility, and empowerment of young people of a minority sex, gender, and sexual orientation; to build capacity; to create safe spaces; and to conduct advocacy, training, action research, and legal support.

Objectif général / General objectives

Former une nouvelle génération de jeunes leaders féministes issu·e·s des minorités de sexe et de genre, capables de porter un changement social et politique profond, transformateur et durable au Bénin et à l’échelle internationale. L’organisation souhaite réaliser un monde où le féminisme reste résolument intersectionnel.

To train a new generation of young feminist leaders from sex and gender minorities, capable of bringing about profound, transformative, and lasting social and political change in Benin and internationally. The organisation wants to bring about a world where feminism remains resolutely intersectional.

Domaines d’intervention / Areas of work

• Féminisme intersectionnel
• Droits humains et lutte contre les discriminations
• Santé, bien-être et accès aux services
• Autonomisation et leadership
• Visibilité, éducation et transformation sociale
• Partenariats et bailleurs

• Intersectional feminism
• Human rights and the fight against discrimination
• Health, well-being, and access to services
• Empowerment and leadership
• Visibility, education, and social transformation
• Partnerships and donors

Contacter / Contact

Email: feministslbqactions@gmail.com
01 97 73 68 63 / 01 62 75 35 21 / 01 96 45 08 02
Facebook
Instagram

Founded in Kampala, Uganda as a grassroots coalition by John Grace and others on the 1st of August 2020, Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium (UMSC) specifically prioritises and centres trans and gender diverse (TGD) youth who have been disproportionately targeted and driven underground by recent legislation (e.g. Anti-Homosexuality Act). While UMSC’s work is deeply rooted in TGD survival, their mandate encompasses the broader LGBTQ+ community, including LGBT+ sex workers, LGBT+ HRDs and LGBT+ PLHIV (people living with HIV). The organisation also focuses on LGBT+ individuals with intersecting vulnerabilities, such as displaced TGD youth and those living with disabilities. UMSC operates as a coalition of over 25 decentralised grassroots safe spaces and community-based protection organisations. Because TGD individuals are often the most visibly targeted within the broader LGBTQ+ umbrella, UMSC’s main work involves providing highly secure emergency housing, physical protection, and trauma-informed psychosocial care. The organisation utilises Peer Health Navigators to bypass hostile public clinics—where TGD persons frequently face intentional misgendering and abuse—to safely link them to life-saving HIV/AIDS services. The organisation is officially registered and holds formal national-level public health legitimacy, as it is officially accredited by the Uganda AIDS Commission (UAC).

Vision

A Uganda where marginalised communities, centring trans and gender-diverse youth, achieve true independence and self-determination. A future where TGD individuals are completely empowered to live with absolute bodily autonomy, build self-sustaining livelihoods, and access healthcare entirely on their own terms—free from systemic violence, arbitrary eviction, and reliance on hostile institutions.

Mission

To cultivate the absolute independence, resilience, and self-determination of marginalised communities—centring LGB, trans and gender-diverse (TGD) youth, sex workers, and individuals living with HIV—by building a self-sustaining, decentralised network of safe spaces across Uganda. UMSC is committed to breaking cycles of reliance on hostile institutions by empowering vulnerable populations with independent, stigma-free HIV/AIDS service linkages, trauma-informed psychosocial support, and the tools required to defend their own human rights and bodily autonomy.

Goals/Objectives

• To facilitate the transition of displaced and unhoused LGB, trans and gender-diverse (TGD) youth from precarious survival to enduring independence by maintaining protected, decentralised shelter networks that provide the essential foundation for reclaiming their autonomous livelihoods.
• To develop community-led, stigma-free health linkage infrastructures that empower LGB, TGD individuals overcoming homelessness to oversee their HIV/AIDS care and holistic health with absolute self-determination, effectively ending dependency on hostile or exclusionary public health systems.
• To expand localised, peer-driven psychosocial frameworks—such as our Resilience Circles—designed to dismantle the trauma of displacement and internalised shame, providing our community members with the mental fortitude necessary to achieve total structural and personal independence.

Focus areas

• UMSC’s core thematic areas are Emergency Housing and Transitional Shelter, HIV/AIDS Health Autonomy, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), and Structural Independence.
• For trans and gender-diverse (TGD) community members specifically, their projects are meticulously designed to disrupt the pipeline from AHA-related eviction to chronic homelessness. The organisation operates specialised safe spaces that provide immediate physical sanctuary for displaced TGD youth. From this secure foundation, they run trauma-informed “Resilience Circles” tailored to help TGD individuals process the acute trauma of homelessness and systemic violence, rebuilding their mental resilience.
• Furthermore, to ensure TGD members can safely transition to full independence, UMSC’s Peer Health Navigators facilitates secure, peer-led health linkages. The organisation bypasses hostile public clinics—where TGD persons frequently face intentional misgendering, blackmail, and service denial—by physically escorting them to trusted, non-hostile care centres or distributing underground HIV self-testing kits. 
• Their ultimate project focus is equipping formerly unhoused TGD youth with the physical safety, mental resilience, and health autonomy they need to permanently exit crisis survival and rebuild self-sustaining, independent lives.

Contact

Website
Email: minorityshelters@gmail.com  / umsc@minorityshelter.org 
Facebook
Instagram
X (Twitter)

Watch our interview with co-founder, John Grace, 14 August 2026

UMSC documentaries

UMSC in the media

• PlanetRomeo Foundation: https://www.planetromeofoundation.org/umsc; 
• Global Press Journal’s feature “Shelters in Uganda Unite to Safely House LGBTQ People” https://globalpressjournal.com/africa/uganda/network-hope-shelters-uganda-unite-safely-house-lgbtq-people; 
• 76Crimes’ article “Five homeless shelters welcome LGBTQ Ugandans” https://76crimes.com/2020/10/23/five-homeless-shelters-welcome-lgbtq-ugandans; 
• GoFundMe campaign story “Donate To Uganda’s LGBT Shelters” https://www.gofundme.com/f/minorityshelters; 
• New York Times piece https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/world/africa/usaid-africa-uganda-lgbtq.html; 
• LGBTQ groups question US health agreements with African countries — Washington Blade, February 2026
• LGBTQ Ugandans targeted ahead of country’s elections — Washington Blade, January 2026
• Mpox outbreak in Africa declared global health emergency — Washington Blade, August 2024
• Ugandan Constitutional Court to consider challenge to Anti-Homosexuality Act — Washington Blade, December 2023
• Uganda Minority Shelters Consortium — Official Website
• How Police and Criminals Use Uganda’s Antigay Law to Find Blackmail Targets — Wall Street Journal

Robert Hamblin, in collaboration with Leigh Davids and members of SistaazHood, held the InterseXion exhibition, which opened at the Iziko South African National Gallery on 22 March 2018. This was a landmark event and a pivotal moment in the South African art world as it was the first time that a National Gallery showed work by and about trans sex workers. The exhibition was on show for five months from March through to August 2018 and consisted of voice and video installations as well as photographic images.

“InterseXion was a body of work consisting of performance photographs and voice works created with The Sistaaz Hood support group for trans sexworkers at the organisation SWEAT. It took almost seven years of support group meetings, explorations of feminisms and making decisions on how to work in ways that decolonised methods traditionally used to document communities. In that work I had to explore my own identity in contrast to the group members. The work was personal in the storytellings but we also looked at ourselves as representing the divides that existed between myself as a white male presenting privileged person and their own range of feminine and black identities also framed by class.”
– Robert A. Hamblin

“InterseXion is a body of photographic images, voice and video installations pertaining to sex workers in South Africa, in particular feminine identified transgender sex workers. Photographer Robert Hamblin has collaborated with sex work activist Leigh Davids to photograph and interview transgender women who sell sex. To engage with the subject from multiple perspectives, Hamblin pertinently inserts himself into some of the works with Davids. Presenting the intersection of gender, sex and class from the perspective of trans people acts as a lens to consider the power consequences of how bodies present in society.”
— Iziko Museum

Artist statement:

“Hamblin’s InterseXion unfolds in three series’, The SistaazHood, Diamond Town Girls and the installation Intersections. This exhibition is centred on the artist’s photographic images, voice and video installations pertaining to sex work in South Africa, in particular work with transgender women (male to female) who sell sex.  Through this thought provoking and compelling exhibition, Hamblin joins an active and ongoing debate around the decriminalisation of sex work in South Africa and the social-political issues surrounding individuals in the industry, wherein transgender women are described as the most vulnerable populations. 

A narrative that Hamblin continues to explore through his work is that of the complexities around sex work in South Africa. Since 2011, Hamblin has been producing bodies of photographic work with trans women sex workers.  He has done so because of an interest in the subject matter, but also in an attempt to present their experiences as a macro reflection of the fault lines in society. How do we as privileged persons intersect with sex worker’s lives and how are we directly and inadvertently implicated in their struggles? How does his own trans identity as a privileged person contrast with that of a homeless trans sex worker?

His interest in the conceptual potential of the subject matter was evoked by his involvement at the organization SWEAT (Sex Workers Education & Advocacy Task Force) in 2011. Before volunteering at SWEAT, Hamblin was a founder member and advocacy manager at Gender DynamiX, an organisation concerned with transgender rights. At SWEAT he was asked to assist a group of transgender women who worked as sex workers, to form a support group.  Delving into his own knowledge and experiences as a trans person and advocate, he could assist the group with advocacy planning. Being a volunteer relieved him somewhat of the constraints of pure advocacy and during the work with these women he found the intersection for his art practice and activism. The Sistaaz Hood support group was born and their first goal was to create an art project with Hamblin. The first series of works with them carries the same name. The works aims to elicit an interest with viewers to review contrived notions of sex workers and trans people. During the collaborations with The Sistaaz Hood (Cape Town), and later the Diamond Town Girls (Kimberley), Hamblin allows his models to become co-creators of the works. “In a process of consultations with the participants, their frustrations became the portal, or the lens through which I approached this project. There was a range of issues; I came to realise that if you ever want to glean society’s perception of trans issues, or even gender issues, these participants’ lives provide a space within which such matters are severely concentrated. It is the space where gender, class and race intersect and leaves an indelible mark on the lives and bodies of these participants” Hamblin explains.” 

About Robert Hamblin:

Robert A. Hamblin is an artist, published author, afab-feminist and parent. His art flounces around gender and bodily things. He seeks a reconnection with nature for queer people. His fine art work is concerned with masculinity, power, whiteness and the performance of these constructs. Hamblin’s conceptually driven, painterly photographic works have been exhibited locally and internationally. He has received critical acclaim for his compelling works that contribute to debates around body politics in a post-apartheid era. He is the published author of “Robert: A Queer and Crooked Memoir”, which Supreme Court Justice Edwin Cameron described as “A remarkable feat that challenges people to examine not just their own sexuality and identity but their very humanity.” Robert was a founding board member of Gender Dynamix, and later years the Advocacy Manager.

Watch our interview with Robert Hamblin, 27 March 2026

Founded in 2018, Refugee Trans Initiative (RTI) is a trans-led community based organisation that aims to create visibility for trans refugees and the local trans community. The organisation was founded by Vanilla (Tcheugoue) Hussein, a trans refugee woman, along with the help of Doreen Andrews and Purity Paige Tumukwasibwe, and other trans refugees who believe in the rights of trans women by creating awareness of the issues faced by trans refugees and ensuring empowerment of trans women through advocacy, safe housing, livelihood development and seminars amongst others.

Challenges faced by trans refugees in Kenya include:

• Trans refugees are faced with discrimination because of their gender
• Trans refugees face gender based violence from their partners and torture most of the times from the transphobic community
• Trans refugees face a lot of depression and low self esteem
• Trans refugees are faced with low income jobs and joblessness because of their gender and end up in the harsh conditions of sex work.

Vision

A free trans refugee community, the freedom to be one’s true self, and an empowered trans community.

Goals

• To ensure trans refugees are self-sufficient and able to run their day-to-day activities without fear of prosecution.
• To fight for trans refugees through activism and advocacy to ensure that they are able to be independent and have the freedom to be their true selves.

Objectives

• To create awareness and advocate for trans refugees’ rights.
• To create a safe space for trans refugees and trans sex workers.
• To empower trans refugees on social and economic growth.
• To carry out health forums on trans refugee health and well-being by distributing condoms and lube and encouraging the use of PrEP/PEP.
• To train trans refugees to obtain a high level of high self esteem and through psycho-social support.

Areas of Work

• Advocacy.
• Empowerment.
• Healthcare.
• Shelter.

Contact

Website
+254 702 371 502
Email: refugeetransinitiavite@gmail.com
Facebook
Instagram

Watch our interview with co-founder, Purity Tumukwasibwe, 9 May 2025

Watch our interview with co-founder, Vanilla Hussein, 7 August 2026

Founded on 17 March 2017 by Bukenya Musa, Equal Shiners Initiative Uganda works with LGBTQIA+ individuals, with a specific focus on trans, intersex, sex workers and other vulnerable community members, particularly those affected by stigma, discrimination, homelessness, and HIV/AIDS. The organisation provides community support, awareness, advocacy, and access to essential services. Their organisational approach is

• Community-led and peer-driven advocacy and programming
• Rights-based, gender-affirming, and sex-worker-inclusive approaches
• Evidence-informed advocacy grounded in lived experience
• Strong referral, coalition, and partnership systems
• Accountability to the communities served

The organisation was registered as an NGO in 2017. The NGO was formerly a CBO named Kuchu Shiners.

Vision

A safe, inclusive and equal society where everyone is respected and empowered.

Mission

To support and empower LGBTQIA+ communities through advocacy, education and inclusive programs.

Goals/Objectives

• Promote equality and human rights.
• Provide safe spaces and support services.
• Raise awareness and reduce stigma.
• Empower community members.

Areas of Work

The organisation’s work focuses on human rights advocacy, mental health support, community empowerment and programmes specifically supporting trans and intersex individuals. Advocacy, human rights and policy engagement is the central pillar of the organisation’s work, addressing structural inequalities, criminalization, violence, and exclusion faced by trans women sex workers by amplifying community voices and engaging duty bearers, policymakers, institutions,
and the public.

Key advocacy interventions

• Documentation and reporting of human rights violations affecting trans women sex workers
• Community-led advocacy campaigns addressing criminalization, police violence, stigma,and discrimination.
• Engagement with policymakers, local authorities, health institutions, and human rights bodies.
• Coalition-building and participation in national and regional advocacy networks
• Strategic communications, storytelling, and media engagement grounded in lived experience
• Advocacy for trans-affirming, sex-worker-inclusive health, legal, and policy frameworks

HIV, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR)

Equal Shiners Uganda strengthens access to HIV and SRHR services through peerled outreach, referrals, and follow-up systems that ensure trans women sex workers access respectful, confidential, and affirming care. Services include:

• HIV testing and counselling referrals
• PrEP screening, initiation, refills, and adherence support
• PEP administration referrals
• STI screening and treatment referrals
• Psychosocial and adherence support
• Client follow-ups and continuity of care

Community outreach, prevention and empowerment

The organisation conducts peer-led outreach and empowerment initiatives that prioritize harm reduction, informed decision-making, safety, and dignity. Activities include:

• Distribution of condoms and lubricants
• Distribution of HIV self-testing kits
• Health education, HIV prevention, and SRHR sensitization
• Rights awareness and community dialogues
• Peer-to-peer mobilisation and support

Humanitarian and economic support

The organisation has a well-established shelter space to provide accommodation to the homeless or wrongly evicted trans women. It comes with home care and security. All the shelter occupants are enrolled in economic skilling activities like poultry to prepare them to survive economically once they have exited the organisation.

Legal support and crisis response

Equal Shiners Uganda responds to rights violations and emergencies affecting trans women sex workers through referrals, accompaniment, and partnerships with legal and human rights institutions. Interventions include:

• Legal aid referrals and case follow-up
• Support during arrests, harassment, extortion, and violence
• Emergency response and documentation of abuse cases

Specific trans and intersex programmes

The organisation’s trans and intersex focused programmes are designed and led with direct involvement from trans women and intersex individuals to ensure they are inclusive, safe, and responsive to their needs. Equal Shiners use a peer-to-peer approach, community outreach, and safe spaces to build trust and ensure meaningful participation.

• Health Awareness and Access to Services: They conduct community outreaches and sensitisation sessions on HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health, and mental health. The organisation also link trans and intersex individuals to friendly health facilities for testing, treatment, and counseling services.
• Safe Shelter and Emergency Support: Equal Shiners provides temporary shelter and emergency assistance to trans women and intersex individuals who are homeless, displaced, or facing violence and family rejection.
• Advocacy and Human Rights Awareness: The organisation engages in advocacy to promote the rights, dignity, and inclusion of trans and intersex people. This includes community dialogues, awareness campaigns, and working with local stakeholders to reduce stigma and discrimination.
• Psychosocial Support: They offer peer support groups and counseling to address trauma, mental health challenges, and social isolation experienced by our beneficiaries.
• Economic Empowerment: The organisation supports skills development and small income-generating activities to help individuals achieve independence and improve their livelihoods.

Contact

Email: info.equalshiners@gmail.com / kuchushiners@gmail.com
+256782156969
Facebook

In March 2017, trans sex worker activist, Leigh Davids from SistaazHood, made the now famous “Trans Violent Exclusion” speech at the 3rd Trans Health, Advocacy and Research Conference, hosted by Gender DynamiX (GDX)  and Iranti.

Under the Conference theme, “Decolonising and Depathologising Transgender Identities”, Leigh delivered a powerful critique, which was published afterwards.

The speech highlighted the different income and social classes and levels of access within trans organisations and among trans women and activists. She spoke about living on the street, and she challenged the audience to think about what it means being a trans woman sex worker and how this Conference (or any other) is at all meaningful for trans women sex workers. In the speech Leigh mentioned that trans women sex workers do not live to be older than 40 years.

Leigh passed away two weeks before her 40th birthday, on 27 February 2019. Read the tributes to Leigh after her passing.

Transcript of snippets from a speech Leigh made in 2018 at the Kewpie Heritage Day

“Thank you for coming to the place where we live. We do not often invite people here. Like anybody else we enjoy our privacy and as you might imagine we don’t have a lot of that here.
This is what NOT PRIVACY looks like.
This is what NOT HOME looks like.
This is what parents threaten their children with if they don’t do their homework.
This is what Capitalism imprints in your mind to make you work harder, to spend your money,
to make you work for the man.
This is……. THE STREETS.

The human mind and will is amazing. Even when it is hungry. Even when it is in pain all the time. Even when it’s spirit has been attacked all it’s life. It will find and make community, under the worst stress. The SistaazHood and our allies have been living on this spot for decades. Over there is our lounge and our kitchen. Over here is where we sleep together.
This is home for us.
Well it was until the part of apartheid that never died came and evicted us last week, evicted us yet again from District 6.
The first time was because of philosophy called apartheid. Ooh and we hate that word hey? All of us! Black white poor rich.
Say it with all the hate in yourself, all the disgust, feel appalled!
Wasnt it terrible? It was so terrible that once upon a time a government, a city could throw poor black people out of their homes, demolish them, send the people to the outskirts of the city. What terrible prejudice, human rights violation. That one could lose your home because of the colour of your skin, your culture, how you were born. Shocking hey?
But let me tell you that Big Brother Apartheid might be dead but his father is still with us. We never killed his father. His father’s name is the CLASS SYSTEM and his father’s job is GENTRIFICATION. In the name of gentrification the father of apartheid is still chasing poor black people from District Six.

And so? How many of you are working class? How many of you are middle class? Do you occupy the street to walk to work or do you occupy the street when you go for a jog or do you drive in it? If you answer yes to any of those you are more or less safe from the father of apartheid and his job – gentrification. But me and my sisters. He is coming for us. He came for us last week on his first round through Woodstock. He chased us around the corner. Next week he will take us to a concentration camp in a place called Wolwehoek. What is this? It sounds like a TV drama. But it is not. It is my life. It is our life. And maybe you wonder why I can sleep in the street, how can sleep on a piece of property I don’t own, how I can complain when I am evicted from a space I don’t own. Are you wondering that? Are you wondering if I am a nuisance to
people here? Do I make a noise? Do I use drugs, sell sex, urinate on the street? And isn;t it time for me to get my act together, find a job?
First of all – I HAVE A JOB. Sex work is work. You made it illegal.
Second of all. I don’t live here by accident. I am not poor by accident. I am not without a home by accident.

There are places in the world where democracy does it’s job, nobody sleeps on tar and cardboard there. There are places in the world where Capitalism works, does it’s job – people don’t sleep under plastic on cement there. There are places in
the world where dynamic communities with all the classes are designed by city planners. People from every class is together in one neighbourhood, diversity makes them thrive! Believe it! Those neighbourhoods work! And the most vulnerable? There are shelters for them…..right there in the same neighbourhood where one guy jogs on the street, the other one walks on it to work and the one with mental health challenges sits on a bench under a beautiful tree, protected, maybe even healing. There are places like that in the world.

And do you know how they happened? They did not happen because poor people got their act together. They did not happen because poor people got themselves jobs. They did not happen because poor people got organised. They happened because people with power started doing their job. They built a society for everybody with their power. The middle class agreed to it. Insisted on it. That’s how it happened.

So please leave us now and go do you job. Use your power. Get us off the street without evicting us. Gentrify with us in our heart and mind, not like we are trash that needs to be taken out…..of town.”

According to TTI’s founder, Mwamba Nyanda,

“Throughout the years we have managed to serve, reach out and impact our constituency through different strategies, e.g.
• Through capacity building, where we provide knowledge and tools for Trans persons to develop their Human rights work.
• Movement building, working g intersectional with other organisation like women’s organisation to share feminist experiences and strategy to win has a collective.
• Use of Creative Arts, to better tell our own stories, heal has queer person and shape our own future. This helps us to dive in our creative side and share it with the world around us e.g. Music that sends messages and heals peoples heart around us.
• Sports, this tool created liberation for young diverse women seeking equality and freedom of expression, it helped trans persons in times of anti-rights movements, and escape from violent community.
• All this provided us with strategies to go about our Advocacy on human right Issues.
• Working intersectional and in the regional level has amplify our work and kept us on the map and face of the community, with challenges along the way, shaped our formation and demanded our work to strive harder for the Trans community.”

Vision

TTI envisions a transformed Tanzanian society where Young ITGNC persons have access to good health, education, equal opportunities in all sectors, enjoy gender equality and do not face any form of violence and discrimination.

Mission

TTI is a group of feminist, trans who aim to address the multiple and intersecting oppressions faced by its beneficiaries through:

• Raising awareness on trans and women’s issues,
• Empowering young women and trans youth on leadership.
• Promoting gender justice and equality.
• Collaborating with government, law enforcement officers, policymakers, Civil Society Organizations and other Community Based Organisations to address health issues, drive social economic stability for achievement of sustainable development goals.
• Providing knowledge and a foundation for empathy and understanding of the needs of TTI’s constituency.

Goal

To ensure that ITGNC (intersex, trans and gender non-conforming) persons understand their human rights and how to fight for them for survival and for peaceful life without discrimination and that they are empowered and enabled to realize sustainable livelihood and are living in the country a peaceful life without discrimination and humiliation.

Contact

Email: artirism@gmail.com
+255 695 880 453
Facebook
Instagram

Founded on 24 April 2014 by Madine Mukandayisenga, RIFA (Rights for All) is a Rwandan organisation based in Kigali, focusing on youth, working to promote the rights and well-being of lesbian, bisexual, trans and intersex (LBTI) persons, female sex workers and LBTI persons with disabilities. Their main work includes human rights advocacy, mental health and psychosocial support, community awareness on SOGIE (sexual orientation, gender identity and expression) issues, and connecting LBTI individuals with inclusive health services and empowering them economically. The organisation’s registration is pending.

Vision

A healthy and prosperous young generation free from all forms of injustice.

Mission

To improve the livelihoods, health, and equality of vulnerable and marginalised sections of youth in Rwanda through legal and policy advocacy as well as provision of direct essential services.

Objectives

• To advocate for and/or create opportunities for income-generating opportunities among youth, especially female youth.
• To sensitise youth on fighting against the HIV/AIDS scourge, drug abuse, delinquency and other forms of irresponsible behaviour.
• Advocate for access to comprehensive healthcare services especially for vulnerable and most at risk youth groups, namely LBTI people and female sex workers, and LBTI people with disabilities.
• To sensitise youth on positive values and ethics and transform them into responsible citizens with an inherent culture of hard working.
• To fight against all forms of discrimination and marginalisation based on, inter-alia, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Focus Areas

• Human rights advocacy for LBTI persons and female sex workers.
• Gender and sexual diversity awareness.
• Access to inclusive health services.
• Mental health and psychosocial support.
• Capacity building and community empowerment for LBTI people and female sex workers.

Contact

Email: rifaworwanda@gmail.com
+250788645920
Facebook

Furthermore SistaazHood is an activist organisation advocating for the decriminalisation of sex work and the human and health rights of trans sex workers. Sistaazhood works in close collaboration with other non-governmental organisations such as Triangle Project, SWEAT and Gender DynamiX.

SistaazHood was founded after an initial meeting between Cym van Dyk, Netta Marcus, and Gulum Petersen, with the support of Robert Hamblin and He-Jin Kim from Gender DynamiX (GDX). Cym had the vision to establish a home or safe space for the trans women sex workers, most of whom were homeless and lived in Cape Town’s city centre on the streets, under bridges, and near the wall of the Cape Castle. Netta was known as the symbolic mother of the group of 37 trans sex workers. Soon after the initial meeting, Leigh Davids, Cherry Lily and Pricilla Ferguson joined and SistaazHood was formed. 

During their first year, discussions evolved to establish what the aims and goals of the group would be. In answering the question, “What are the next steps?”, the group started engaging with critical questions with a feminist lens, unpacking oppression and patriarchy in relation to their context. Collectively, they produced their short SistaazHood introduction video, filmed and edited by Robert, with the “sistaaz” narrating. When the video was ready, they shared the video during a large SWEAT organisational-wide community dialogue. 

For the first time, the cis women and cis men sex workers, and the majority of the SWEAT staff, realised in a profound way the different layers and struggles that trans women sex workers deal with on top of the challenges that sex workers already experience. Robert and He-Jin continued their support during the group’s growth. Leigh travelled internationally and nationally, extensively furthering the advocacy, both for trans sex workers and as part of the South African national campaign to decriminalise sex work.

Leigh has been quoted in many public speeches, nationally and internationally, in speaking about how homeless trans women sex workers are the population most likely to contract HIV+, how, on average, these women do not live past the age of  40, and that international studies show that trans women have an average life expectancy of about 30 or 32 years. Leigh once said, “We have no studies in South Africa but since 2011 we have photographed 30 black trans women sex workers for this project. Five of us have died not reaching the age of 40”. Two of the founders, Cym and Netta passed away in 2020, and Leigh herself passed away two weeks before her 40th birthday, on 27 February 2019.

SistaazHood continues with its advocacy. 

Watch this video about the founding of Sistaazhood:

Contact

Website
Email: nettamarcus40@gmail.com
Facebook
Twitter (X)

Watch Leigh Davids’ famous speech and read about her passing.

Founded in 2003 in Rwanda by, Horizon Community Association (HOCA) is an unregistered group focusing on serving trans and intersex people, trans sex workers, and sexual minorities. Their main work is advocating for equal rights, health promotion, and economic empowerment for these groups. Although HOCA was founded in 2003, the organisation did not start as an exclusively trans/intersex-focused organisation. In its emerging years HOCA had gender non-conforming leadership, and their projects and programs were always trans inclusive. Today HOCA has trans leadership. HOCA was also one of the signatories of the Nairobi Trans Declaration at the Changing Faces, Changing Spaced Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2007.

Vision

Central to HOCA’s vision is the aspiration for an inclusive society where every individual, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or employment status, can fully realise their human rights, experience freedom, gender equality, mental well-being, and equitable economic empowerment.

Mission

HOCA’s core mission revolves around nurturing the movement and enhancing the capabilities of its community members. Its overarching goal is to foster equality and champion the rights of gender and sexual minorities, and sex workers, both within Rwanda and across the region.

Goals

• Advocacy aiming to decriminalise sex work
• Fighting for social justice for sexual minorities and sex workers
• Raising awareness and follow-up on the security and well-being of minorities, especially trans and intersex people.

Contact

Email: hocarwanda2013@gmail.com.
+250788512824
Facebook

Watch our interview with Musana Joan Jones from HOCA, 13 February 2026