Women for Justice, Education and Awareness

About MuJER

We may be small, but look how far we’ve come.

  • Our Mission

    MuJER is dedicated the promotion of women’s rights through education, awareness, and community organizing.  Our mission is to empower women sex workers to become socially and politically active by offering programs that range from literacy and vocational training to emotional well-being and violence prevention.  With education, specialized skills, and leadership development, MUJER enables women sex workers to find economic and emotional stability, have a voice in society, and better their own lives and the lives of their children.

  • What MuJER Does

    MuJER was born in January 2005 when two undergraduate students, Ana Moraga and Tania Torres, and their professor heard a program on National Public Radio about the plight of a group of prostitutes in Guatemala City, Guatemala. One of the women interviewed, Susie Sika, a 41-year-old mother of seven children, stated that her lifelong dream was to learn to read. Inspired by her story, MuJER’s founders decided to create a literacy program in Guatemala’s red light district, known as La Linea, to enable Susi—as well as all other women in her circumstances—to learn to read. With this goal in mind, Ana and Tania moved to Guatemala in August 2005. In just over three years, MuJER went from offering literacy classes in the women’s work rooms at the La Linea red light district to opening a multi-service community center to serve female sex workers throughout Guatemala City. MuJER has worked with more than 350 different women sex workers in Guatemala.

    Upon our arrival at La Linea, we were viewed with skepticism; the women doubted we would stay more than a few months and therefore were not interested in participating in our literacy program. Day after day, MuJER’s two staff members visited the red light district and earned the women’s trust. As the relationships developed, the women opened up, revealing their real names and personal stories. A MuJER staff member continues to meet weekly with the women of La Linea, and this year we expanded our services to include personal visits with women at two other red light district in Guatemala City, El Trebol and Parque Concordia.

    With the trust developed through our personal relationships with individual women—and with the support of our partner organizations— we have been able to encourage sex workers to stand up for themselves. Women from our community have participated in national and international events and forums related to the rights of sex workers, legislation affecting prostitution, and domestic anti-violence campaigns. MuJER also offers group workshops on violence prevention as well as leadership development programs to train sex workers to speak out on behalf of their rights. We are creating a local advisory council, composed of the women themselves, to help with the development of new programs.

    In February 2009, MuJER opened its community center, called the Empowerment Center, where we offer semester-long educational and vocational courses, as well as a series of workshops. We have provided scholarships to women in our community for vocational training, and have subsequently hired these women to teach classes at the Empowerment Center. The Center provides a stable and positive base from which we can educate women about their rights and help them to organize to address their collective concerns.


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