FBO born to transform sex workers’ lives

Sex workers are part of minority groups in the country that do not receive much attention and are mostly discriminated against in society.

But things may soon change following the birth of Badilika Foundation, a faith-based organisation (FBO), which aims at transforming lives of sex workers in Malawi.

I find out more from the organisation’s executive director, Pastor Forbes Msiska.

I don’t think Badilika is a Malawian name. Is it?

No, it’s not! Badilika is a Swahili name, which means change. We chose this name because our main focus is to bring change to the lives of sex workers.

We are aware that some of them join the trade as a means to deal with the social and economic challenges they face in their day-to-day lives.

We are targeting vulnerable and marginalised girls, commercial sex workers and those living with HIV and Aids.

This population was chosen because of their role in the spread of HIV due to their having multiple concurrent sexual partnerships. This has led to an increase in HIV infection rates among girls and women, their partners and children.

When was this organisation born?

Badilika Foundation was born in 2006 and got registered as an FBO. Our main mission is to contribute to the mitigation of spiritual, health, social and economic challenges being faced by sex workers.

This initiative needs strong financial muscle, who are your partners?

Some of our partners include the National Aids Commission (NAC),

Children Positive Action and Global Fund for Women, among others.

The participation and leadership of sex workers is essential to ensure

that our initiatives meet their needs and uphold their rights. We train sex workers to participate meaningfully in the protection of their own lives, health and well-being.

What are your core values and objectives?

We seek to serve, support without judgment, fight stigma and discrimination, we keep confidentiality of our members, empower clients with skills for inclusive and not exclusive as well as feeling compassion for them.

We facilitate spiritual transformation, building community groups of sex workers in order to prevent HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unintended pregnancies.

We create spaces where sex workers can be free to meet and talk about issues affecting their lives.

We also advocate for scaling up of access to health and other social services for sex workers, promoting economic empowerment and providing behaviour change counseling sessions.

We also train them to improve their level of participation in civil society and advance human rights and gender equality for sex workers in society.

We provide alternative skills of sex workers to improve their income base through employment and entrepreneurship activities.