On Women’s Day (9th) the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) and the South African national movement of sex workers Sisonke launched the ‘In Her Heels’ toolkit, at the Artscape Women/Humanity Arts Festival. ‘In Her Heels’ is a sensitisation training tool that puts participants in sex workers’ heels – using story cards and different scenarios that are based on sex workers real life stories. The two-day launch saw approximately 73 participants (some men) take part.
When a participant arrived they were asked to select one of the five identities. Each identity card ended with a Go to Violent Strike 1 instruction. The participant would then select a pair of high heels, which were provided, before entering the ‘In Her Heels’ workshop space. This was to help the participant truly experience walking in their character’s heels.
After reading the first Violent Strike1 card the participant might be confronted with two options, for example Go to Police, or Go to Medical Care. The participant would then have to choose an option and move to the chair with the option they would have made, and pick the next card. After reading that card the participant would be given another set of two options, or asked to return to the Violent Strike chair, and pick the Violent Strike2 card. The participant’s journey through the story is dependent on the options they take. Therefore each participants experience was unique. At the end participants were given goodie-bags with SWEAT flavoured condoms, lubricant, femi-doms, etc.
This was a pilot with only five stories from Cape Town. The final version of ‘In Her Heels’ will include stories from other provinces. SWEAT intends to use ‘In Her Heels’ in sensitisation trainings with police, health care-givers, and the general public. Instead of telling people these are the abuses and challenges sex workers face as the result of criminalisation, we want people to experience the limited and difficult choices that sex workers often have to make. We also plan to work with other organisations to help distribute the stories to their beneficiaries and networks, in order to reach an even wider audience. We have already been invited by the Women’s Circle to showcase ‘In Her Heels’ at their Women’s Month event on the 26th of August.
Feedback from participants:
At the end participants were also asked to share their thoughts and feelings after going through a sex worker’s story. One of the participants that cried while going through ‘In Her Heels’ said, “Her story touched me because it also happened to me”, referring to her own rape. Another commented on the strength of the sex worker who inspired one of the stories:
“I read the story about Natasha. She faced a lot of challenges, but didn’t give up until she got what she wanted”.
“I really liked reading about the different stories. I think it was very well presented. I liked the idea of actually having to put on shoes [heels] and go in and follow the cards. The stories were very moving. It’s nice to see that there is some kind of education happening about it,” said another participant.
“I liked the choose-your-own-adventure aspect of it. It depended on your decisions or chance how your life turned out. It was also glaringly obvious to see the difference between a sex worker going to police, and someone else. The people who were meant to protect her ended up abusing her,” remarked one of the participants
“I felt like I was living her story, because it can happen so quickly.”
“I’m very grateful for having the opportunity to learn about these things, because it could happen to me or my grandchild, or another family member. At least now I know that there is a place that I can tell people to go to for help. I’m encouraged that there are people [SWEAT] doing this work”.
Participants also had the chance to meet up with some of the Storytelling Group members who had written the stories that inspired ‘In Her Heels’. This added to their experience, as it made the stories even more real.
For those Storytelling Group members who could not be present (like Ayanda who has cancer, and is currently in hospital), some participants asked to leave recorded audio messages for them:
“Hi Ayanda. I just read your story, and want you to know that there are people thinking about you. I know you have cancer, but I just want to say to you sweetie that cancer is not the end of the road, it’s about how you feel about yourself. So, might sound a bit harsh, but get your lazy bones out of bed, put a smile on your face, put on your high heels, and smile to the world, and tell them that it’s not over yet.”
This toolkit is important for sex workers, because it makes them understand that they are not alone. That the challenges they face are also faced by other sex workers, and that they can also push through their challenges. We are hoping that these stories will empower sex workers to stand up and fight for their human rights.
‘In Her Heels’ is an adaptation of ‘In her Shoes’, which is a training toolkit developed on violence against women by the GBV Prevention Network. Developed by the GBV Prevention Network in collaboration with over 100 network members in 2011, In Her Shoes is an interactive, educational tool designed to raise awareness about the day-to-day reality for women experiencing violence and encourage activism among service providers and community members.
