Blessing Okoedion is an activist who draws courage from her own experiences as a survivor to continue to raise awareness about sex trafficking as a form of violence against women and girls.
In 2019 she founded Weavers of Hope APS” a survivor led non – profit organization in Italy that combats sex trafficking – and empowerment of women and girls trafficked from Africa for prostitution in Italy.
Weavers of Hope APS Partners with many non profit organisation in both Italy and in Nigeria, involved in campaigns and sensitization programs, educating vulnerable women and girls in poor and remote areas of Nigeria, to help them detect traffickers’ fraudulent, recruitment and employment tactics, including false promises of work and a better life in large cities and other countries.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Ambrose Ali University Ekpoma, Nigeria, and a Bachelor’s degree in Political sciences and International relations from Oriental University of Naples, Italy.
Blessing has received several local awards for her courage and fight against human trafficking and was also honoured in 2018 by the US State Department as a “Hero in the fight against trafficking in persons”.
In 2017, she published a book, ” The courage of freedom”, co-written with an Italian journalist Anna Pozzi, to tell her story and to shine a light on this abhorrent practice of sexual exploitation.
