On Her Terms – overview

On Her Terms: Overview

Amos Trust’s ‘On Her Terms’ campaign is transforming the lives of girls and young women on the streets so that they can live free from abuse. We are journeying with them as they take control of their own lives, challenging the injustice they experience daily.

Storytelling, Solidarity & Sisterhood

Our experience shows that the key is forging strong, trusting relationships with these girls and then to build programmes and activities from this, which a girl can engage with ‘On Her Terms’.

SUPPORT ‘ON HER TERMS’

On Her terms is Amos Trust’s campaign to transform the lives of girls and young women whose lives revolve around the street so they can live free from abuse.

On Her Terms is a Methodology:
We journey with girls as they take control of their own lives, challenging the injustices they experience every day.

Core Principles and Values of On Her Terms:

acknowledging the long journey many girls are on
respect & no judgement
girls’ are the experts of their own lives
recognition that most girls will have experienced acute/multiple traumas
each situation is different — no one size fits all
relational approaches are key — “Change happens at the speed of trust”
the need to challenge systemic injustices.

Key approaches in an On Her Terms methodology:

outreach: meeting girls where they are at (going onto the streets & the places they stay)
girls are given multiple opportunities to respond and are able to become involved when they are ready
female-only spaces* and/or sessions and/or programmes are vital
a person centred, relational approach is key; relationships are built over time as young women learn to trust the project staff
programmes and activities must emerge out of these relationships
a high degree of patience from workers is needed as the work will often progress slowly (the girls’ lives are often chaotic or controlled by others)
the resilience of workers is key and needs to be invested in as girls will often push boundaries to see if they can trust the staff (or even themselves)
girls will often drop out of programmes (for multiple reasons) and they need the opportunity to be able to re-join them when they are ready
skilled interventions are required for the multiple trauma girls have experienced
the best approaches enable girls to support one another on the street and build girls’ collective strength
practical support such as health and hygiene, support in childcare, nutrition are often key tools to build relationships
it is vital to challenge the systemic and structural drivers that lead to girls being on the street and to challenge gender-based violence at every level.

On Her terms is also a Space:

for learning and reflecting on what works
for training & developing workers
for workers from different contexts to meet and share best practice
for training & developing workers
for workers to support one another, to stand in solidarity, to share struggles, and hold the sadness together
to develop areas of expertise (and share the unique areas of knowledge) held by the organisations involved
to celebrate the successes and moments of progress.

My friends outside of work often ask me, “why do you spend your time and energy working with these kinds of girls, who live on the streets and sell themselves for sex?” I reply, “your question of their worth, is exactly why I do this work. Everyone else has rejected them”. Revina — Social worker, Cheka Sana Tanzania

Collective Vision: Amos Trust brought together women from 8 countries who work with girls on the streets. Girls who face child marriage, prison or are involved in sex work. They shared new ways of working, with a collective vision to see girls live free from abuse. This is their story.

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Take a look through our range of resources, including blog posts, downloads and products, to find out more about our Street Justice work.

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Seeds of Hope book More Thoughts and Reflections from Amos Trust

Book | £10
Our second book of poetry, prose, creative writing and reflection is now available. ‘Seeds Of Hope: More Thoughts and Reflections from Amos Trust’ has contributions from Zena Kazeme, Arundhati Roy, Ben Okri, Cornel West, Angela Davis, Robert Cohen, Maya Angelou and our partner Abdelfattah Abusrour. “What a wonderful collection of writing — rich, deep, broad, funny, touching, angry, and, most importantly, encouraging.” Brian Eno — producer, musician, writer and artist.

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Street Justice Web gallery

Amos Street Justice images and films from our projects around the world – Burundi, India, South Africa and Tanzania. Images by Bex Morton, Jules Klass, Tom Merilion, Christoph Stulz and Wilf Whitty.

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Resources

Stories of Hope Doing Hope... in South Africa

April 2025 | FREE
Karin Joseph, Head of International Programmes at Amos Trust, has just returned from visiting our partner Umthombo in Durban, South Africa. Here, she writes an update on their work and how it continues to transform the lives of young people living in extremely dangerous situations.

Gender Justice

Living On Air Raising awareness for street children

Amos Communities Engagement Manager Katie Hagley shares her experience of living on £5 for 5 days. "Tomorrow my family and I will start Amos Trust’s '£5 For 5 Day' challenge to raise money and awareness for street-connected children." Read how she got on and whether her family are still talking to her!

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Kimbia Bila Shaka Run Without Fear

“I’ve never seen women overtake men before!” declared Mary as we sat and reflected on the race later that day. This run meant many other things for these girls too — it was the first time any of them had left Mwanza or flown on a plane, let alone completing the race and being awarded their medals! Amos Street Child lead worker Karin Joseph describes running the first Zanzibar Marathon with four new friends.

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When distance doesn’t matter Why the On Her Terms campaign is so important

What can a group of women, from cities thousands of miles apart, almost all of whom don’t speak the same language, hope to gain from spending a week together in the UK? Karin Joseph talks about some of the reasons why  Amos’ on her terms campaign are so important.

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Karunalaya: Teaching ambition Why small victories are so important

“In spite of our heartbreak over Mali’s decision, we can recognise the small victory that is Mali’s choice in this, her completion of exams at 16 and her knowledge of women’s rights.” Azey Bennetts writes about the importance of small victories when working with girls on the streets of India.

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Breathe Sharing our collective strength

“It’s like on a flight. When the flight attendant says, ‘Make sure you put your own breathing mask on first, before helping the person next to you.’ She is absolutely right. If we can’t breathe we are of no use to anyone.” Karin Joseph writes about the first On Her Terms conference in Devon in October 2018.

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Extreme Altitudes Climbing Kili for Amos Trust

“Climbing Kilimanjaro has been on my bucket list for some time. At 5,895 metres it is both the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world.” Neil Irving writes about ticking-off one item from his bucket list to raise funds for Amos Trust.

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