Ayanda Denge (1982 – 24 March 2019) was a South African

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

and sex trafficking survivor. She was an advocate for transgender people, sex trafficking survivors, and for the abolition of

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

. She was the chairperson of the

Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) is a South African sex workers' rights organization. It is the first such organization to be established in Southern Africa, and is renowned as the most prominent sex worker movement on the con ...

(SWEAT). Denge has said that, "being transgender is ... a triple dose of stigmatisation and discrimination".

Early life

Denge was

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

, and grew up in the city of

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

, in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

in South Africa.

Career

Denge began work in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, and later travelled to other southern African cities including

Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, and

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls (Lozi language, Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "Thundering Smoke/Smoke that Rises"; Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe), Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border betwe ...

. She was a sex worker for over 15 years. Denge worked as outreach co-ordinator for the Sisonke Sex Worker Movement (Sisonke) for two years. Denge was the chairperson of the

(SWEAT). She was an advocate for transgender people, sex workers, and for the decriminalisation of sex work. In her role with Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), Denge trained 50 peer educators, and worked as a motivational speaker on "cancer awareness, HIV/AIDS awareness, and human rights advocacy issues related to sex work". She also worked on the project "Integrate – HIV/AIDS Reduction for Sex Workers" at the TB/HIV CARE Association. She advocated for the rights of people living with HIV, and was a member of SistazHood, the female transgender sex worker human rights, health, and support group at SWEAT. Denge led SWEAT through the August 2015 launch in

of the Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work, where she delivered a speech. The organisation includes sex workers, activists, and advocates and defenders of human rights, and the steering committee consists of the Sisonke Sex Worker Movement (Sisonke), the Women's Legal Centre (WLC), the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT), and Sonke Gender Justice. The organization aims through decriminalization to reduce the vulnerability of sex workers to violence and illness, and increase their access to labor, health, and justice services. Denge was interviewed by the Daily Vox while attending the 2016 International AIDS Conference in

, "Being transgender is not a double dose, but it's a triple dose of stigmatisation and discrimination. You are discriminated against for your sexual identity, you are discriminated against for your work, and you are discriminated against of your HIV status." She spoke out also against

emotional abuse Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is no scientific consensus on a definit ...

and

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

, noting that the police confiscated sex workers'

condom A condom is a sheath-shaped Barrier contraception, barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a Sexually transmitted disease, sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both external condo ...

Personal life

Denge lived in

, South Africa. She lived on the street for a period before moving into the Helen Bowden Nurses' Home in Green Point. The former nurses' home is owned by the provincial government, but had been unlawfully occupied by tenants' group Reclaim the City, which campaigns for affordable housing, and renamed the

Ahmed Kathrada Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada OMSG (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African Natio ...

House. In February 2019, she had been elected a house leader.

Death

Denge was murdered in her room on 24 March 2019 at the age of 37years Old. She was stabbed and left lying on her floor. It was reported that Denge's room was locked with a padlock from the outside and it was only when a leader at the residence peeped through the window out of concern for her well-being that anyone noticed her body on the floor. The electricity had been cut, causing the building to be completely dark at night. She had been living with someone, who disappeared after the killing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denge, Ayanda 2019 deaths South African LGBTQ rights activists South African transgender women South African women's rights activists Xhosa people South African women civil rights activists South African civil rights activists 21st-century South African LGBTQ people 1982 births