Stories on Kenyan Sex Workers and Truck Drivers

Sex workers and truck drivers were at the centre of different HIV/AIDS programmes and media attention when the HIV/AIDS pandemic was officially recognized to be a national disaster in Kenya in the 1990s. Both groups were seen as “risk groups” by international medical experts due to their mobility and “risky sexual practices.” Such narratives usually discuss sex work in terms of health risks and condom use, but fail to hear what women selling sex are actually saying. Listening to what women who self-identify as commercial sex workers say can be the beginning of a more productive conversation about the HIV/AIDS spread and why women sell sex. Continue reading →

Women’s Economic Empowerment and Reproductive Freedom in Africa

Many international women’s organizations continue to pour an enormous amount of energy and resources into defending abortion rights and promoting contraception. Unfortunately, many forge alliances with population control advocates who prioritize limiting births over women’s general health, while callously dismissing resistance to “family planning” as evidence of Africa’s cultural backwardness. However, the problem of unsafe abortions can only be adequately addressed by a holistic approach to sexual and reproductive health that goes beyond discretely addressing women’s rights to a safe abortion and contraception to include women’s rights to economic resources. Continue reading →

Term-Limits for Winners and Losers: Constitutional Democracy & Republicanism

In a democratic society, how many times should an individual, particularly a standard flag-bearer, run for the presidency? At what point is the defeated individual’s attempts to run for office a personal attempt to accumulate power or simply a strong conviction that he or she is the right person to lead the country forward? Furthermore, what does that individual think of the judgment and will of the people if they have rejected his or her overtures twice? Continue reading →