A core part of our work is improving the sexual and reproductive health and rights of LBQ+ women and sex workers who are historically excluded from SRHR access in Nigeria. Annually, we train clinicians and SRH practitioners on inclusive service delivery for the LBQT+ community and female sex workers. We address common myths that perpetuate stigma and exclusion, advancing programmatic efforts that can optimize healthcare availability and accessibility for diverse women communities.

We provide:

Contraceptions

Post abortion care

Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE)

Prevention services and management of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases

Referral and linkage to healthcare service providers

We address the unique health needs and challenges faced by women, LBQTI+ individuals and female sex workers, championing for accessible and inclusive healthcare services because even for primary healthcare, they experience exclusion. We provide support services in the following areas:

• Cervical Cancer screening, referal and linkage for treatment. 
• Hepatitis screening, referal and linkage for treatment. 
• Malaria, HIV and TB co-infection sensitization, referal and linkage for treatment. 
• Mental health support programs, including referrals and linkages to therapists. 

A key component of our health and wellness is programming to combat gender-based violence, by engaging stakeholders including families, communities and security agencies. Intersecting with our education initiatives, we provide post-SGBV psychosocial care and support. In a country where women are doubly victimized and shamed as victims of sexual and gender-based violence, poor resourcing for victim care and support reduces their ability to report abuse and seek for help. This in turn reduces accountability while increasing poor reporting. We provide direct services and linkage services for victim care and support.

Working in a historically patriarchal and misogynistic society, the existing systemic, institutional, and socio-cultural structures continue to hinder women’s access to political participation, economic opportunities, benefits, and rights as equal citizens of Nigeria. This is also worse for women who do not fit into the cis-heteronormative rhetoric and societal definition of gender, leading to the exclusion of transgender and nonbinary persons from meaningful participation and benefits in the society.

At GWHREI, we work to bridge this gender gap, ensuring meaningful inclusion from an intersectional lens, platforming the most marginalized communities amongst us and amplifying their voices to ensure recognition of diversity.  Our feminist policies, methodologies, and programs action gender justice across board.

We engage in local, regional, and global policy spaces to shift power and advance gender-responsive policies and laws that promote and protect the fundamental Human Rights of the communities we serve. We challenge discriminatory laws, lobby, litigate and promote their legal protection. This requires partnerships and collaborations with stakeholders championing social justice. We also create spaces where our communities can directly speak to power and be a part of decision-making processes that impacts on their lives. We are committed to achieving a society where laws and policies promote and protect the lives, wellbeing, and dignity of diverse women.

We raise awareness about women’s rights, sensitize communities and leaders on LBQTI+ issues, educate on the rights and safety of female sex workers and conduct various educational initiatives for peer learning. This includes public campaigns, workshops, seminars, and online resources that promote societal acceptance, challenge stereotypes and foster understanding.

Understanding the different family dynamics of children of LBQ+ persons and female sex workers, we provide access to education services for orphans and vulnerable children in these dynamics. Beyond our school enrollment programs, we conduct brothel and non-brothel literacy and skills acquisition trainings for female sex workers and those in far to reach rural areas, to capacitate them with valuable skills for economic development and literacy to understand the value of education not just for themselves, but for their kids too.

In the communities we work in, economic violence is a rampart form of gender-based violence, affecting the independence and stability of women and girls, deeply rooted in cultural norms, social inequality, and systemic discrimination. They are denied access to education, limited employment opportunities, unequal pay and denial of ownership and control over resources. This is worse for LBQT+ women who are on the margins with exclusion from socio-economic development. We work to enhance their participation in economic policymaking, establish and register their businesses, sharpen their innovativeness, and provide financial empowerment for startups. We also provide financing and technical support for existing women-led SMEs to expand their business, enhancing their economic power and social negotiation skills.