Dear friends,

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – As Executive Director of   Embrace Dignity, a partner of Donor Direct Action, I wanted to let you know that we have launched ‘Arise’, a new initiative with women who have exited prostitution. We have enough funding for the next few weeks, but need your urgent support to keep it going past next month.

Despite the progress made since ending apartheid and being one of the richest countries in Africa, South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world. Poverty, unemployment and violence against women remain high. In this context, girls and women are extremely vulnerable to sex trafficking, yet there is almost no funding available to protect them. Nor is there financial support available for those trapped in the sex trade.

Arise is a key part of our work to support sex trade survivors who have exited prostitution. Some of these women have started small businesses of their own or taken up internships. Some are working to raise awareness of the harms of prostitution. Others have contributed to sexual and reproductive health, social and economic empowerment and anti-violence workshops and programs.

We are also working to fix the law on sex trafficking in South Africa. Women who have exited prostitution know that the best approach to achieving this is to decriminalize and support those selling sex, while criminalizing pimps, brothel-keepers and those who buy sex. Known as the ‘Nordic’ or ‘Equality’ Model, this set of laws and policies has been successful in Sweden, Iceland, Norway, France, Canada and the Republic of Ireland and is now gaining traction around the world.

Please help Embrace Dignity and our coalition of sex trade survivors keep this initiative running long enough to ensure that South Africa is the first African country to enact the very best laws and policies on prostitution.

We are a small organization, so your donation could be the tipping point we need to collectively transform the futures of thousands of women and girls.

Thank you for your support,

Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge
Executive Director of Embrace Dignity