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Pathfinders Justice Initiative, Inc.® (PJI) is a leading international impact organization dedicated to the prevention of sex slavery/sexual violence and the liberation of enslaved women and girls through the direct eradication of root causes. We work in Nigeria and with Nigerian survivors globally to build a best practices model for the world. We are registered and in good standing as an NGO with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria and as a New York State 501(c)(3) non-profit.  Learn more.

About The Founder

R. Evon Benson-Idahosa, the founder and Executive Director of PJI, is a Nigerian native, a leading expert and thought leader on the subjects of modern day slavery and gender based violence in sub-Saharan Africa.  She is also a trained English Barrister and American lawyer who, when her passion and compassion called her to address these issues in her home country, resigned from her partnership at a New York law firm to became a full-time advocate on behalf of women and girls.  Her commitment is to structural transformation of both the narrative and the economic landscape for African women, with a focus that extends beyond eradicating generational poverty and instead seeks  wealth creation for a generation of women who are confident in who they are and in the transformative power of their voices. She is a firm believer that if you empower women and engage men as allies for gender justice, you can change any society.

 

Ms. Benson-Idahosa is a dynamic speaker and a published author whose voice amplifies thousands of young voices via PathFinders’ long running campaigns, including #Not4Sale, its anti-sex trafficking campaign. She also lends her expertise as an advisor/consultant to organizations as well as state, national and international governments on the issues of sex trafficking, the sexual exploitation of African women and girls, unsafe migration and gender based violence. (She currently serves/has served as a consultant to Nigeria’s Parliament, Nigeria’s federal anti-trafficking agency (NAPTIP), the UK Home Office (via its Modern Slavery Project), the UK Cabinet Office, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Trafficking, UNODC and the government of her home state, Edo.)  In her role as an innovative trainer/facilitator, she has organized and led multiple high-level stakeholders national and international conferences/roundtables, including Nigerian’s first ever Gap Analysis on human trafficking and unsafe migration, trains parliamentarians and serves as a legislative drafter. 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. In August 2021, along with her team, Ms. Benson-Idahosa launched HERS Africa, the continent’s first online Hub of Economic Resources for Survivors, a platform for survivors of sexual exploitation that will provide survivors with access to tailored resources, regardless of where they are in the world. Under her leadership, Pathfinders has provided holistic PATH (Personalized Action to Healing) Plans for over 2,500 survivors, maintains a thriving shelter, has conducted groundbreaking research on recruiters of sex trafficking in Nigeria and engages in outreaches that reach millions of people daily.

 

Ms. Benson-Idahosa’s work has been featured on CNN, CNNi, BBC, Al Jazeera, CCTV-America, ABC, NBC, SiriusXM Radio, Channels Television and The Huffington Post LIVE and she has been named one of New York’s New Abolitionists. Ms. Benson-Idahosa, a Huffington Post blogger, is a 2019 recipient of France’s Emerging Leaders Program award, a 2019 (and 2017) Vital Voices Global Freedom Exchange Fellow and Speakers Bureau Member, a 2018 TEDx speaker, a 2018 ‘The Platform Nigeria’ speaker, a 2016 United States White House State of Women “Nominated Changemaker” and has been nationally recognized for her efforts in seeking an end to gender based violence in the developing world.  Click here for our speaker/training request form or email her at reidahosa@pathfindersji.org.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to prevent sex slavery/sexual violence and to liberate enslaved women and girls through the direct eradication of root causes.

OUR VISION

PJI envisions a world where a fundamental change of human consciousness eliminates the demoralization and subjugation of women and girls. We envision the first generation of women and girls who experience full freedom of choice in education, occupation, financial mobility and physical movement.

OUR CORE VALUES
Compassion
PJI believes that sexual violence and the sexual exploitation of women and girls amounts to a violation of their fundamental human rights.  As such, the liberation of women and girls is the primary compass that guides PJI.  PJI reaches beyond pity into the realm of Compassion, as we believe that neither one’s gender nor place of birth should determine or limit human rights or opportunities.
Accountability
Through lobbying and advocacy, PJI demands accountability from both government and non-government institutions tasked with protecting survivors of gender-based violence. PJI provides them with the necessary education, training and data to act on behalf of survivors and the vulnerable. PJI works arm in arm with these institutions towards the successful prosecution of perpetrators and the protection of survivors.
Access
PJI believes that empowerment and education are powerful accelerators out of poverty, a factor that often forces the women we serve to view prostitution as an economic alternative. As such, we strive to empower and educate marginalized young women so that they are awakened to and have access to additional viable possibilities. Via customized survivor-centered interventions, female survivors of violence and sexual exploitation receive free medical, counseling and legal services as well as vocational skills and financial literacy training, start-up business capital, job placement and/or education scholarships. Perpetrators are also offered rehabilitation/counseling on a voluntary basis.
Inclusivity
PJI believes that lasting change only comes through partnering with local communities in community transformation. Through the TruthTellers arm of the organization, we speak truth to the seemingly powerless by raising community awareness and forging local partnerships to generate ownership and sustainable change.