«Don´t call us prostitutes! I hate that word! We are sexworkers and our job should be recognized and respected in the same way as any other job», says Hajarah Sanyu Batte. She is a school drop-out who landed up doing sex work as a teenager. Today she is the Executive Director of one of Uganda´s leading organizations for female sexworkers - Lady Mermaid Empowerment Centre and a recognized womens rights activist. As a child she was raped by a man she called uncle and gave birth to a baby girl. She ran away from home and landed up in the streets where she became a sex worker. Hajarah spent several years doing sex work, across many African borders, before she came back to Uganda again. Today she uses her past experiences to change the future of other female sex workers. She fights for decriminalisation of sex work and against the many violations against sex workers. ”Imagine that a school dropout can become an Executive Director. With hard work and determination, everything is possible. That´s what I tell other sexworkers who have lost hope”. Hajarah says.