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And it is projected that approximately 9,000 family planning services will be provided by June 2013.
Every week, our team in Ghana shows community-based films to educate young migrant women employed as head porters - locally known as Kayayei - about gender-based violence (GBV), HIV/AIDS, rights and family planning.
Thousands of Kayayei left extreme poverty in rural northern Ghana to live and work in Accra's busy markets in Agbogbloshie, Mallam Atta and Abuja. Many of them lack access to education and housing. And some are victims of sexual exploitation, violence, and human trafficking.
But the benefits of our work over the last year are now being felt by these women.
In addition to helping the women access education about how to avoid HIV/AIDS, we have been offering them a choice of a range of family planning and reproductive healthcare and giving support to those women who have experienced gender-based violence.
Taking these activities directly into Kayayei communities has empowered women to be more confident and to move beyond cultural norms and traditions which are one of the key barriers to providing sexual and reproductive health services worldwide.
As part of the programme we have developed a unique partnership with the Ghana Police Service’s Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU). As a result of these partnerships, 75 peer educators were trained and 18 anti-GBV champions were identified during the second half of 2012 to extend support services to the Kayayei population.
We aim to reach an estimated 100,000 Kayayei through community mobilisation during the life of the project.
