Ayanda Denge

Ayanda Denge (died 24 March 2019) was a South African trans woman and sex trafficking survivor. She is an advocate for transgender people, sex trafficking survivors, and for the abolish prostitution.[1] She was 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".[2]

Early life

Denge came from the Xhosa people, and grew up in the city of Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape.[3]

Career

Denge began work in Johannesburg, and later travelled to other southern African cities including Harare, Durban, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Victoria Falls.[3] She has been a sex worker for over 15 years.[3]

Denge worked as outreach co-ordinator for the Sisonke Sex Worker Movement (Sisonke) for two years.[3]

Denge was the chairman of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT).[3] She was an advocate for transgender people, sex workers, and for the decriminalisation of sex work.[2] In her role with SWEAT, Denge trained 50 peer educators, and worked as a motivational speaker on "cancer awareness, HIV/AIDS awareness, and human rights advocacy issues related to sex work".[3]

Denge spoke at the August 2015 launch in Cape Town of the Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work.[4] 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.[4]

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."[2]

Personal life

Denge lived in Cape Town, South Africa.[2]

References
  1. Gontsana, By Mary-Anne (26 March 2019). "Housing activist killed in occupied Cape Town building". GroundUp News. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  2. "Transgendered sex workers face a triple threat of stigma - The Daily Vox". thedailyvox.co.za. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  3. "Ayanda Denge - SWEAT". sweat.org.za. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  4. "Coalition launched to decriminalise sex work". groundup.org.za. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
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