At the end of June 2018, she has been
awarded the prestigious “Hero of the Year” award by the US
State Department for her commitment to the fight against human
trafficking.
A former victim of human trafficking and forced
to prostitution in Italy, Blessing is a young woman from Nigeria who
had the courage to report her exploiters and restart her life as a
cultural mediator. She works between Italy and Nigeria, trying to
prevent other women from becoming the victims of human trafficking
and supporting those who have fallen into that trap: often very young
and unprepared women, reduced to slavery for sexual
exploitation.
There are very few people like her who have
chosen to put their lives on the line and to try to accompany those
who wish to return to Nigeria to their places of origin, thanks to a
project of assisted repatriations promoted by the Slaves no More
Association.
Blessing Okoedion has also published the book “Il
Coraggio della libertà (The Courage of Freedom) (published by
Paoline) with the journalist Anna Pozzi.
