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The neighbourhood of Terres Sainville (2 000 inhabitants), located at the heart of the city of Fort-de-France in Martinique, is home to a low-income migrant population – mainly from neighbouring islands (Dominican Republic, Haïti, Dominica and Saint-Lucie) – and suffers from poor and aging housing, a lack of services and shops, as well as cases of violence and smuggling (drugs and prostitution).
Many women feel compelled to prostitute themselves to survive after escaping poverty in neighbouring Caribbean islands. Oftentimes single mothers, overindebted and isolated, these women have a low level of French and are unaware of their rights and the support they could benefit from. |
In 2019, to remedy the lack of support services catered to this vulnerable population, the Martinican branch ofthe Mouvement du Nid association, providing support to people involved in prostitution, accompanied 30 women prostitutes through French language lessons and practical workshops on the access to social rights, with the support of the Foundation.
For the second phase of the project, the association wants to offer these women a basic knowledge learning program (reading, calculations, and digital tools) revolving around cooking and to integrate them to the preparation of a public event, “Les saveurs des valeurs” Festival, in collaboration with the cityhall of Fort-de-France, where they will hold a booth (introduction to their personal stories and to recipes).
Founded in 1971 and set up by the Amicale du Nid association, the Mouvement du Nid association is a public utility organisation , acting on the causes and consequences of prostitution in France through meeting and accompanying people involved in prostitution, training other social actors, raising awareness amongst youth and leading awareness and advocacy work with the population and public authorities.
