Where We Work
The human rights movement in West Africa has been characterized by the imbalance and even exclusion of LGBTQ+ identities, sex workers, and young persons from the conversation. These communities, therefore, are left lagging behind in access to rights and socio-political entitlements. Across West African societies, young LGBTQ+ persons and sex workers are forced to accept their own dehumanization and oppression as a normal part of existence.
CHEVS intends to bring about a change by creating ideological and practical partnerships between different movements: feminism, LGBTQ+, etc, in order to mainstream the identities and stories of young LGBTQ+ persons and sex workers in the West African social discourse and shine a light on their experiences. In all we do, we aim to always challenge harmful ideas about these communities and to empower young persons to fight against the conditions of their oppression.
We work at the different levels of engagement: individual, grassroots, community, institutional, and national in order to ensure comprehensive change and collective advancement towards the society of our dreams. An inclusive, prosperous, and violence-free one.
Our sphere of operation encompasses the entire West African subcontinent comprising the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo
Areas of concentration in West Africa