Leigh Ann van der Merwe, Founder of Astraea grantee partner S.H.E., discusses S.H.E.’s work and shares what it’s meant for the organization to receive support from Astraea.
Based in East London, Social, Health and Empowerment Feminist Collective of Transgender Women of Africa (S.H.E.) was formed in 2010 to address the gender imbalance in the African trans* movement, build the leadership of trans* women, and work for greater inclusion of trans* women and their issues in African women’s and feminist movements at the local, national and regional levels.
In the above video, Leigh Ann van der Merwe, S.H.E.’s Founder, discusses S.H.E.’s work and shares what it’s meant for the organization to receive support from Astraea.
Learn more about S.H.E.
Based in East London, Social, Health and Empowerment Feminist Collective of Transgender Women of Africa (S.H.E.) was formed in 2010 to address the gender imbalance in the African trans movement, build the leadership of trans women, and work for greater inclusion of trans women and their issues in African women’s and feminist movements at the local, national and regional levels.
Based in East London, Social, Health and Empowerment Feminist Collective of Transgender Women of Africa (S.H.E.) was formed in 2010 to address the gender imbalance in the African trans movement, build the leadership of trans women, and work for greater inclusion of trans women and their issues in African women’s and feminist movements at the local, national and regional levels. At the local level, S.H.E. works with trans women in peri-urban informal settlements and township communities, predominantly in the Eastern Cape Province, where they run support groups and ‘co-powerment’ programs. At the national level, they collaborate with women’s movements to raise issues of violence against trans women, and with trans and intersex organizations to advance campaigns for access to health care. At the continental level, they build the capacity of trans and women’s rights organizations. They held the first African Transformative Feminist Leadership Institute, which brought together 14 transgender women activists from 8 countries working to advance a feminist agenda for trans women on the African continent, starting with the release of the “African Transfeminist Charter.” Check out our 2018 International Trans Day of Visibility video featuring an interview with S.H.E. Founder Leigh Ann Van Der Werwe:
