Evon Idahosa

R. Evon Benson-Idahosa is the founder and Executive Director of Pathfinders Justice Initiative, an organization working to end sex trafficking and gender-based violence in Nigeria through survivor rehabilitation, prevention, research, and advocacy. Under her leadership Pathfinders has provided personalized rehabilitation plans to more than 5,500 survivors, operates a shelter, and has conducted groundbreaking research on the recruiters who drive trafficking from Edo State to Europe. She was named a Trafficking in Persons Report Hero by the U.S. Department of State in 2023, receiving the award from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and advises the National Assembly of Nigeria, the Edo State Government, and the United Kingdom Home Office on anti-trafficking policy. A trained English barrister and New York lawyer, she practiced for fourteen years in the areas of professional responsibility, insurance defense, and directors' liability, rising to partner, before leaving private practice to found Pathfinders. She is a Vital Voices fellow and a frequent speaker on child sexual abuse, sex trafficking, and gender-based violence in the developing world.