Evon Idahosa

R. Evon Benson-Idahosa is a Nigerian native, a thought leader and leading expert on the intersection of the economic empowerment of African women and gender based violence in sub-Saharan Africa. She is also a trained English Barrister and American lawyer who lends her expertise as a strategist and advisor/consultant to organizations as well as state, national and international governments.

In her role as an innovative facilitator/trainer, she has organized multiple high level stakeholders’ national and international conferences/roundtables, including Nigeria’s first ever Gap Analysis on human trafficking and unsafe migration, trains Parliamentarians and serves as a legislative drafter. Via her non-profit, Pathfinders Justice Initiative, her work has culminated in the production of Nigeria’s first national Guidelines for rehabilitation service providers and law enforcement officers, judges and prosecutors on human trafficking, www.hersafrica.com, the continent’s first one stop online hub of resources for survivors and Edo State’s Coordinated Care Mechanism (CCM), the state’s first referral mechanism for local service providers.

As an activist, published writer, researcher and speaker, Ms. Benson-Idahosa’s work has been featured on multiple national and international radio and television news outlets and she has been named one of New York’s New Abolitionists. She is also the recipient of multiple fellowships/awards and has been nationally and internationally recognized for her efforts in creating access to economic empowerment for African women and for seeking an end to gender based violence. For more information, please visit www.pathfindersji.org or email [email protected].