Update on the 2nd National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS in Nairobi, Kenya

[Guest guest]

October 16, 2008

Dear Partner,

RE: THE 2ND NATIONAL CONFERENCE TO PROMOTE THE REDUCTION OF HIV/AIDS AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE PROMOTED BY VULNERABILITY AND STIGMA AMONG FEMALE BAR WORKERS IN KENYA .

Greetings from Purple Images Productions.

Purple Images is in the process of organizing the 2nd National Bar Hostess AIDS Conference slated for October 27th – 28th. The 1st conference was first organized in 2006 and was very success with kind support from Ministry of Health, Hivos Netherlands, East African Breweries Ltd, National Aids Control Council , Kenya AIDS NGOS Consortium , and the World Health Organization, which attracted international publicity with the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC (www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4783631.stm). The upcoming conference is already gathering support from the media, Communication Initiative Network and other partners(www.comminit.com/en/node/273507).

The main agenda of the conference is to reach a high risk group to promote behavior change communication to reduce the incidence and the impact of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence among bar maids while bringing into the public lime light and policy issues that affect bar maids such as employment conditions.

In Kenya today, there are currently over 40,000 bars employing an average of 5 bar hostesses. This makes a total of over 200,000 bar hostesses countrywide. A simple survey conducted in Nairobi by Kenya Bar Hostess Aids Programme showed that about 90% of the bar hostesses are sexually active with multiple sexual partners.

The rate of infection and exposure to sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS is therefore higher than the national average.

Assuming of the 90% of the 200,000 Bar Hostesses nationwide, 80% of them are exposed to the virus, this translates to 5.2% of national average of people living with HIV/AIDS being bar hostess. This is a very high percentage considering that bar hostesses are just 0.5 % of the total national population.

The Bar Hostess Empowerment Programme and Purple Images Productions consider this a big risk to the bar hostesses and believe that the only way to combat this is through targeted behavior change communication and economic empowerment to reduce the need for commercial sex.

With regard to sexual violence, bar hostesses are socially stigmatized and discriminated. Most bar patrons regard bar hostesses as third rate citizens and often as mere sex objects to be abused. The bar hostess profession is socially stigmatized by health officials and the police in particular are known to harass bar hostesses as either “disease carriers or criminals.’ A majority bar hostesses have found themselves exposed to all forms of Sexual Violence including forced and unprotected sex and physical Sexual Violence from their supervisors, employers, the police and even their clients and partners. Apart from the forced sex, some bar hostesses are daily physically assaulted and raped while others voluntarily have one or more sexual partners in one day.

In this regard, The Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme and Purple Images Productions have organized the second two–day national conference on Bar Hostess and HIV/AIDS and Sexual Violence. The theme of the conference is “Towards Empowering Bar Hostesses to Fight HIV/AIDS and Sexual Violence.”

The conference will be held on 27th and 28th October 2008 at City Hall,Nairobi

The overall objective of the conference is to promote behavior change communication

among bar hostesses through personal skills building as well as

Strengthening of individual and group capacities to improve collaboration

and networking to identify alternatives to reduce the incidence and impact

of HIV/AIDS among bar hostesses.

Key Conference Objectives:

To provide a forum for Bar Hostesses to share experiences, challenges and lessons learnt on HIV/AIDS prevention and management and Sexual Violence against women.

To impart life skills among bar hostesses to enable them address issues that promote the spread of HIV in the context of their high risk environment.

To address social stigma and discrimination among bar hostesses affected and infected with HIV/AIDS and to promote care and support for bar hostesses living with HIV at the community level and to promote their participation in the care and support activities for their colleagues and AIDS orphans in the targeted communities.

To promote the creation of alternative economic empowerment opportunities such as income generating activities to mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS among bar hostesses

To draw recommendations and the way forward for strengthening and expanding the role of bar hostesses in the prevention of gender Sexual Violence and HIV/AIDS

Conference Presentation Topics:

Stigma and Discrimination

Behavior Change Communication

Bar Hostesses and Sexual Violence

Reproductive Health and Reproductive Health Rights

Women’s health and safe motherhood

Drug abuse and Bar Hostesses

The social economic impact of AIDS among Bar Hostesses

Commercial sex and HIV Infection

Income generation projects as an alternative to poor employment terms and commercial sex

We take this opportunity to invite you to participate in the conference as a Sponsor, delegates or Exhibitors. Delegates are required to Pay Kshs 8,000 ($115), Exhibitors pay Kshs 15,000 ( $ 215) while bar hostesses come in free but are required to register in advance. We have confirmed registration from international, regional and local organ izations who all want to come together to network while coming up with solutions to address the problem of high risk behaviour to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Partners who have expressed interest to participate in the conference are requested to submit their registration form with payment by Wednesday 22nd for reservations. Below please see the photos of the 1st Bar Hostesses Conference on HIV/AIDS in Kenya. Looking forward to your partnership in the fight against HIV/Aids and sexual violence among bar hostesses in Kenya .

Yours Sincerely

Sylvia Micho

Conference Coordinator

The 2nd National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS in Kenya

Purple Images Productions

Mbuchia House, 3rd Flr, West Wing, Westlands, Nairobi , Kenya

P.O BOX 58182 - 00200 Nairobi Telephone: 254-20-4450937/ 4452674 Cell: 254-722 940081/ 722 634947/ 722 493060 Email: info@...

Website: www.purpleimages.com

1ST NATIONAL BAR HOSTESS CONFERENCE IN KENYA

Beatrice Nyawira briefs the media and delegates during the 1st national Bar Hostess conference on HIV/AIDS.

Mr.Karegwa Muchiri Director Purple Images Productions at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Sheila Waweru - Conference co-ordinator.

Beatrice Nyawira with Hon. Martha Karua

The launch at the Stanley Hotel Nairobi with two of the Bar Hostess Jacinta and sitted right.

Beatrice Nyawira compares notes with the minister for Justice and Constitution affairs during the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Beatrice Nyawira - Administrator with purple images productions with Chief Guest Hon. Njoki Ndungu at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

R-L e, Agatha Wangui, Lilian & Karegwa at the first National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Delegates at the conference listen to a speaker at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Delegates at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Tanzanian delegates.

Delegates during the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS at the city Hall, Conference Hall.

Its time for lunch at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS at the city hall Conference Hall

Dancers at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Bar Hostess have lunch at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference.

Beatrice Nyawira - Administrator Purple Images Productions during media launch at the Stanley Hotel.

Winners at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS from L-R to right Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania East African winners.__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

October 16, 2008

Dear Partner,

RE: THE 2ND NATIONAL CONFERENCE TO PROMOTE THE REDUCTION OF HIV/AIDS AND GENDER BASED VIOLENCE PROMOTED BY VULNERABILITY AND STIGMA AMONG FEMALE BAR WORKERS IN KENYA .

Greetings from Purple Images Productions.

Purple Images is in the process of organizing the 2nd National Bar Hostess AIDS Conference slated for October 27th – 28th. The 1st conference was first organized in 2006 and was very success with kind support from Ministry of Health, Hivos Netherlands, East African Breweries Ltd, National Aids Control Council , Kenya AIDS NGOS Consortium , and the World Health Organization, which attracted international publicity with the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC (www.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4783631.stm). The upcoming conference is already gathering support from the media, Communication Initiative Network and other partners(www.comminit.com/en/node/273507).

The main agenda of the conference is to reach a high risk group to promote behavior change communication to reduce the incidence and the impact of HIV/AIDS and sexual violence among bar maids while bringing into the public lime light and policy issues that affect bar maids such as employment conditions.

In Kenya today, there are currently over 40,000 bars employing an average of 5 bar hostesses. This makes a total of over 200,000 bar hostesses countrywide. A simple survey conducted in Nairobi by Kenya Bar Hostess Aids Programme showed that about 90% of the bar hostesses are sexually active with multiple sexual partners.

The rate of infection and exposure to sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS is therefore higher than the national average.

Assuming of the 90% of the 200,000 Bar Hostesses nationwide, 80% of them are exposed to the virus, this translates to 5.2% of national average of people living with HIV/AIDS being bar hostess. This is a very high percentage considering that bar hostesses are just 0.5 % of the total national population.

The Bar Hostess Empowerment Programme and Purple Images Productions consider this a big risk to the bar hostesses and believe that the only way to combat this is through targeted behavior change communication and economic empowerment to reduce the need for commercial sex.

With regard to sexual violence, bar hostesses are socially stigmatized and discriminated. Most bar patrons regard bar hostesses as third rate citizens and often as mere sex objects to be abused. The bar hostess profession is socially stigmatized by health officials and the police in particular are known to harass bar hostesses as either “disease carriers or criminals.’ A majority bar hostesses have found themselves exposed to all forms of Sexual Violence including forced and unprotected sex and physical Sexual Violence from their supervisors, employers, the police and even their clients and partners. Apart from the forced sex, some bar hostesses are daily physically assaulted and raped while others voluntarily have one or more sexual partners in one day.

In this regard, The Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme and Purple Images Productions have organized the second two–day national conference on Bar Hostess and HIV/AIDS and Sexual Violence. The theme of the conference is “Towards Empowering Bar Hostesses to Fight HIV/AIDS and Sexual Violence.”

The conference will be held on 27th and 28th October 2008 at City Hall,Nairobi

The overall objective of the conference is to promote behavior change communication

among bar hostesses through personal skills building as well as

Strengthening of individual and group capacities to improve collaboration

and networking to identify alternatives to reduce the incidence and impact

of HIV/AIDS among bar hostesses.

Key Conference Objectives:

To provide a forum for Bar Hostesses to share experiences, challenges and lessons learnt on HIV/AIDS prevention and management and Sexual Violence against women.

To impart life skills among bar hostesses to enable them address issues that promote the spread of HIV in the context of their high risk environment.

To address social stigma and discrimination among bar hostesses affected and infected with HIV/AIDS and to promote care and support for bar hostesses living with HIV at the community level and to promote their participation in the care and support activities for their colleagues and AIDS orphans in the targeted communities.

To promote the creation of alternative economic empowerment opportunities such as income generating activities to mitigate the spread of HIV/AIDS among bar hostesses

To draw recommendations and the way forward for strengthening and expanding the role of bar hostesses in the prevention of gender Sexual Violence and HIV/AIDS

Conference Presentation Topics:

Stigma and Discrimination

Behavior Change Communication

Bar Hostesses and Sexual Violence

Reproductive Health and Reproductive Health Rights

Women’s health and safe motherhood

Drug abuse and Bar Hostesses

The social economic impact of AIDS among Bar Hostesses

Commercial sex and HIV Infection

Income generation projects as an alternative to poor employment terms and commercial sex

We take this opportunity to invite you to participate in the conference as a Sponsor, delegates or Exhibitors. Delegates are required to Pay Kshs 8,000 ($115), Exhibitors pay Kshs 15,000 ( $ 215) while bar hostesses come in free but are required to register in advance. We have confirmed registration from international, regional and local organ izations who all want to come together to network while coming up with solutions to address the problem of high risk behaviour to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Partners who have expressed interest to participate in the conference are requested to submit their registration form with payment by Wednesday 22nd for reservations. Below please see the photos of the 1st Bar Hostesses Conference on HIV/AIDS in Kenya. Looking forward to your partnership in the fight against HIV/Aids and sexual violence among bar hostesses in Kenya .

Yours Sincerely

Sylvia Micho

Conference Coordinator

The 2nd National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS in Kenya

Purple Images Productions

Mbuchia House, 3rd Flr, West Wing, Westlands, Nairobi , Kenya

P.O BOX 58182 - 00200 Nairobi Telephone: 254-20-4450937/ 4452674 Cell: 254-722 940081/ 722 634947/ 722 493060 Email: info@...

Website: www.purpleimages.com

1ST NATIONAL BAR HOSTESS CONFERENCE IN KENYA

Beatrice Nyawira briefs the media and delegates during the 1st national Bar Hostess conference on HIV/AIDS.

Mr.Karegwa Muchiri Director Purple Images Productions at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Sheila Waweru - Conference co-ordinator.

Beatrice Nyawira with Hon. Martha Karua

The launch at the Stanley Hotel Nairobi with two of the Bar Hostess Jacinta and sitted right.

Beatrice Nyawira compares notes with the minister for Justice and Constitution affairs during the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Beatrice Nyawira - Administrator with purple images productions with Chief Guest Hon. Njoki Ndungu at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

R-L e, Agatha Wangui, Lilian & Karegwa at the first National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Delegates at the conference listen to a speaker at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Delegates at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Tanzanian delegates.

Delegates during the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS at the city Hall, Conference Hall.

Its time for lunch at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS at the city hall Conference Hall

Dancers at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS.

Bar Hostess have lunch at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference.

Beatrice Nyawira - Administrator Purple Images Productions during media launch at the Stanley Hotel.

Winners at the 1st National Bar Hostess Conference on HIV/AIDS from L-R to right Uganda, Kenya & Tanzania East African winners.__________________________________________________