…MSF peer educators helping people overcome stigma and misinformation to access health care.
THE streets of Mbare and Epworth, Zimbabwe, are more than a workplace for young sex workers—they are a battlefield. Violence, stigma, and a lack of access to health care have long defined their lives.
A growing network of young women, supported by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), is rewriting this narrative. These young women are not only accessing essential health care services but are also stepping up as peer educators, bridging the gap between their communities and lifesaving care.
Peer educators distribute condoms, provide basic health services, share knowledge with their peers, and encourage others to seek medical care.
A sex worker talks with a peer educator in Zimbabwe.
Maida, a sex worker, tells a peer educator about the harsh realities young sex workers endure. “Sometimes a client refuses to pay after services. If you ask for payment, they threaten or even beat you,” she says.
Fighting stigma and misinformation
Zira*, a mother of two and a peer educator with MSF’s Mbare project, recalls the night that changed her life: “I became pregnant without knowing because I was drunk while working on the streets. I didn’t know about contraception.”.
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Through the MSF programme, Zira learned how to protect herself, gaining access to contraception, treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and HIV prevention services. But her journey didn’t stop there. She felt a calling to ensure other young women would not face the same struggles.
Many young sex workers won’t trust traditional health care providers, but they trust someone who has lived their experience.
Samuel Sithole, MSF’s health promotion manager
“Sometimes a client refuses to pay after services,” says Maida*, another sex worker. “If you ask for your payment, they threaten or even beat you.”
Beyond the violence, accessing health care remains a challenge. Stigma often discourages young women from seeking help at clinics. “You walk into a clinic with an STI, and before you even explain further, they start judging you,” Maida explains.
“Many don’t know their rights or where to get help,” Zira says. “So I go to them—in bars, in the streets. I ask: Do you have condoms? Do you know where to get tested?”
Samuel Sithole, MSF’s health promotion manager, organizes mobile health education sessions in Epworth. “Many young sex workers won’t trust traditional health care providers, but they trust someone who has lived their experience.” | Zimbabwe 2025 © Lourino Pelembe/MSF
Building trust with the community
The impact of MSF’s intervention in Mbare and Epworth has been transformative. Zira recalls an adolescent girl who had been raped and was unknowingly living with HIV: “She didn’t know she was positive. Her parents didn’t know either. I brought her to the clinic, and she got the help she needed,.”
The peer educator model is fostering trust within the community, encouraging more young sex workers to seek medical care. Many young women call for expanded services, economic support, and better health care facilities.
“Many young sex workers won’t trust traditional health care providers, but they trust someone who has lived their experience,” says Samuel Sithole, MSF’s health promotion manager, emphasizing the importance of the peer educator model. “When there is trust, there is acceptance. When there is acceptance, behavior change happens.”
Peer educators like Jaya*, who transitioned from being a patient to her current role, highlight the need for continued support. “Before, I only cared about money,” she says. “I didn’t think about my health. But MSF empowered me—I no longer work in bars, and now I teach others about the importance of protection. Jaya also stresses the need for expanded services, such as condoms and better access to lubricants, to ensure safer practices.
Since 2016, MSF has been working in Zimbabwe, providing comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services to adolescents and young people in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Care. The integrated approach includes STI and HIV screening and treatment, family planning, mental health counseling, and psychosocial support. In 2024 alone, MSF provided over 8 400 consultations in Mbare alone, many to vulnerable groups like young sex workers .
- *Names have been changed for privacy.
