A presentation by the United Nations Population Fund in 2012 revealed that around 34% of the 52,000 female sex workers living in Ghana h
When we asked some of the female sex workers from the Old Fadama slum how they felt at work, 86% reported always feeling in danger. Just over a third of women in Ghana have experienced physical violence and the majority of women report that it is most often their husband or a sexual partner committing the crime. With sexual violence already prevalent throughout society, just imagine how it is intensified within the industry of sex work where women feel they must necessarily subordinate themselves to their clients.
Yet, with only 9% of sex workers in Ghana who have been detained or arrested reporting a non-discriminatory stan dard of treatment, it is no wonder that only half of the country's female sex workers would consider seeking help after suffering any form of physical or verbal abuse*. Statistics such as this make a strong case for advocating for the rights of these women: the right to report abuse, the right to access justice and the right to live a life free from fear.
The current project run by Theatre for a Change working with female sex workers in Accra is entitled Access to Justice and it places a strong emphasis on exactly that. Twenty women from two of the poorest communities, Old Fadama and Railways, are participating in the project which first focuses on behaviour change, then advocacy, then access to service provision.
Everything about Theatre for a Change is rooted in participation; this is what drew me to them. All of their projects take place in circles; performances are always in the round. Their methodology stems from the philosophy of Augusto Boal, author of Theatre of the Oppressed, who describes this type of theatre as, ‘a Game of Dialogue: we play and learn together’. Through theatre ‘the oppressed’ can explore and identify solutions to their own problems; change comes from within. The game of dialogue must have rules but at the same time there is ‘an absolute need of creativity and freedom’.
As the Access to Justice project moves forward, further elements of Boal’s philosophy will creep in. Just as in Theatre of the Oppressed, Theatre for a Change do not like to remove the actors from the spectators or the protagonists from the mass: dividing walls that Boal said were products of 'the ruling classes' and a symbol of oppression. Instead the audience are invited in and allowed to participate, suggesting different actions and enacting them themselves. 'The walls must be torn down', Boal demands: the oppressed are once more making theatre their own.
In the coming months we will see the walls torn down magnificently as the women are empowered to enter into their communities and tell their stories to the people who need to hear them the most: the police service, the brothel owners, the clients, the men. They will play out scenarios that their audience can identify with and encourage them to step in and change the course of events; together they will explore alternatives and discover solutions. The dramaturges amongst you will recognise this as Forum Theatre.
For now, however, the women's stories remain protected by the security of our four walls. But symbols of change are already beginning to grow within: alterations in how the women hold themselves, an advanced animation of their faces, a greater eagerness to speak. I hope these changes continue to grow and begin to seep out into these women's lives and livelihoods. I hope a change is going to come that means that they can live without penalty or fear. I hope these words of one of the project's former participants will soon be echoed by them all:
‘My first strategy was to stay away from him…then he will lay ambush and attack me in town….one day I mustered courage and looked straight in his eyes like you taught us to have eye contact when we want to be assertive and shouted back at him for the first time and he just left me there without touching me. Previously I could not look him in the eyes or talk back at him…now am free.’
*United Nations Population Fund study based on a random sample of 149 female sex workers from 5 administrative regions. Figures could, in reality, be much higher.
ave had an unprotected sexual encounter with the police against their will*.
When we asked some of the female sex workers from the Old Fadama slum how they felt at work, 86% reported always feeling in danger. Just over a third of women in Ghana have experienced physical violence and the majority of women report that it is most often their husband or a sexual partner committing the crime. With sexual violence already prevalent throughout society, just imagine how it is intensified within the industry of sex work where women feel they must necessarily subordinate themselves to their clients.
Yet, with only 9% of sex workers in Ghana who have been detained or arrested reporting a non-discriminatory stan dard of treatment, it is no wonder that only half of the country's female sex workers would consider seeking help after suffering any form of physical or verbal abuse*. Statistics such as this make a strong case for advocating for the rights of these women: the right to report abuse, the right to access justice and the right to live a life free from fear.
The current project run by Theatre for a Change working with female sex workers in Accra is entitled Access to Justice and it places a strong emphasis on exactly that. Twenty women from two of the poorest communities, Old Fadama and Railways, are participating in the project which first focuses on behaviour change, then advocacy, then access to service provision.
Everything about Theatre for a Change is rooted in participation; this is what drew me to them. All of their projects take place in circles; performances are always in the round. Their methodology stems from the philosophy of Augusto Boal, author of Theatre of the Oppressed, who describes this type of theatre as, ‘a Game of Dialogue: we play and learn together’. Through theatre ‘the oppressed’ can explore and identify solutions to their own problems; change comes from within. The game of dialogue must have rules but at the same time there is ‘an absolute need of creativity and freedom’.
As the Access to Justice project moves forward, further elements of Boal’s philosophy will creep in. Just as in Theatre of the Oppressed, Theatre for a Change do not like to remove the actors from the spectators or the protagonists from the mass: dividing walls that Boal said were products of 'the ruling classes' and a symbol of oppression. Instead the audience are invited in and allowed to participate, suggesting different actions and enacting them themselves. 'The walls must be torn down', Boal demands: the oppressed are once more making theatre their own.
In the coming months we will see the walls torn down magnificently as the women are empowered to enter into their communities and tell their stories to the people who need to hear them the most: the police service, the brothel owners, the clients, the men. They will play out scenarios that their audience can identify with and encourage them to step in and change the course of events; together they will explore alternatives and discover solutions. The dramaturges amongst you will recognise this as Forum Theatre.
For now, however, the women's stories remain protected by the security of our four walls. But symbols of change are already beginning to grow within: alterations in how the women hold themselves, an advanced animation of their faces, a greater eagerness to speak. I hope these changes continue to grow and begin to seep out into these women's lives and livelihoods. I hope a change is going to come that means that they can live without penalty or fear. I hope these words of one of the project's former participants will soon be echoed by them all:
‘My first strategy was to stay away from him…then he will lay ambush and attack me in town….one day I mustered courage and looked straight in his eyes like you taught us to have eye contact when we want to be assertive and shouted back at him for the first time and he just left me there without touching me. Previously I could not look him in the eyes or talk back at him…now am free.’
*United Nations Population Fund study based on a random sample of 149 female sex workers from 5 administrative regions. Figures could, in reality, be much higher.