Young Women's Empowerment - Street Youth Rise Up Campaign +

OUR WORK

Girls in Charge is the leadership group that makes all of the major decisions at YWEP. This is the meeting where we learn about political education and do collective work - Create a workshop for social workers about how to work with girls in the sex trade - Create zines about drugs, the sex trade, violence against girls and social justice.

Girls get paid for their work in GIC! We offer bus fare and money to any girl who stays and works during the meeting!

Youth Activist Krew The Youth Activist Krew meets once per week to build and lead our first citywide campaign. For more information about our Campaign called Street Youth Rise UP click here

Peer Education and Outreach Girls and young women currently or previously in the sex trade learn how to offer one-to-one harm reduction information and support to other girls impacted by the sex trade on issues of sexual and reproductive health, street law, and positive options for health and safety for girls using drugs or active in the sex trade in a 56 hour training course we have developed as experienced trainers. This course is designed to be interactive and builds on the knowledge girls already possess. After graduating from the training, girls are eligible to give harm reduction support, information resources and health supplies like condoms to girls in the sex trade through an outreach plan of their own making. YWEP outreach workers fill out booklets about each outreach time and receive on-going support and development. Girls receive $30 cash stipends for their participation in each 2 ½ hour training session and each 2 ½ hour outreach opportunity a week.

Popular Education and Skill Building Workshops Popular education is more than making sure that everyone participates in workshops. Activists for decades have been using popular education practice to work together as educators and learners to open up problems and ask critical questions like: who benefits, why is it this way and what can be done to change the systems that affect us? Our workshops on the sex trade with girls offer practical information like on myths and realities but mostly we are engaged in a process with young people across the city to question why the sex trade exists, why girls are involved and what can be done about it?

Syringe Exchange The Young Women’s Empowerment Project believes that everyone deserves access to clean syringes and safer drug use information. We offer a syringe exchange on THURSDAYS ONLY. But we offer delivery when we aren’t open. One of our outreach workers can bring them to you. Just contact naima@youarepriceless.org

This means that any girl between the ages of 12-23 can stop by our offices between 4pm-7pm to pick up clean rigs and works or talk to other girls who get it. If you have questions about HIV, Hep C, Vein Care or general questions about drugs we can answer those when you come to pick up. You don’t have to give your name or any other information to access syringes. You don’t have to join our project or pay for anything. Everything is free and anonymous and super quick!

Research YWEP learned how to do our own research! In 2009 we did a massive research study and published the results. Our study’s findings even went to the United Nations! Right now we are working on a study about our Syringe Exchange and we are doing Bad Encounter Line (BEL). To see the latest zine with the Bad Encounter Line results click here. We wrote a paper about how to do your own Bad Encounter Line, which will be released soon and we will giving out the final data about all of our BEL findings in September 2011.

Click for more about our Campaign-STREET YOUTH RISE UP!

Our campaign is to change the way Chicago sees and treats its homeless homefree and street based youth who do what they have to do to survive. We are doing this in 4 ways:
•   Our BAD ENCOUNTER LINE is a form YOU can fill out if you have been denied help from a social service or someone who was supposed to help you like a doctor or police officer. THIS FORM IS ANONYMOUS and helps us figure out who, where and why our community is being turned away from help. You can fill it out online by clicking here or by calling 773-728-0127 and pressing the button to speak with a person or by coming to our office and filling out a form.
•   Chicago Street Youth in Motion is our grassroots organizing city wide task force for street based youth. This task force is for all genders. For more information or to get involved email dominique@youarepriceless.org
•   Healing in Action teaches us how to do our own self exams, about herbs and how we can take of our bodies in case we cant get to a doctor or we are denied help. For more information email selfcare@youarepriceless.org
•   Media–we have made CD’s, Zines and Posters! You can get free stuff here