Hauwa Ojeifo

Hauwa Ojeifo (born 1992) is a Nigerian sexual violence and mental health activist. She is known to be the first Nigerian female to have received a Queen's Young Leader Award for her work.[1][2]

Early life and education

Ojeifo attended the University of Reading in England where she acquired a Master of Science degree in Investment Banking and Islamic Finance.[1]

Career

During her teenage and early adult life years she struggled with depression. In February 2016, Ojeifo attempted suicide. And in 2014, she was sexually abused. She was also diagnosed with bipolar and post traumatic stress disorder with mild psychosis. To turn her difficult experiences into something positive, she founded the She Writes Woman foundation in April 2016. And through her foundation, she provides support to sexual abuse victims and people in the West Africa who need mental health care .[3][4]

In February 2020, during Nigeria's bid to pass its first mental health law, Ojeifo is known to have defended the rights of people with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities before the Nigerian parliament, making her the first woman to have done something of this sort.[4]

Awards and Achievements

Aside receiving a Queen's Young Leader Award for her work in 2018, Ojeifo has won several other awards including the following:

  • In 2017, Ojeifo was honoured as the Possibilities Woman 2017 by IWOW[1][5]
  • She was also selected as an honouree of the AstraZeneca Young Health Programme scholarship to the One Young World summit in The Hague, Netherlands[1][5]
  • In 2018, she was awarded the MTV EMA Generation Change Award in Bilbao, Spain.[1][5]
  • In 2019, She became an Obama Foundation Leader.[1][5]

References
  1. Kiunguyu, Kylie (2019-09-12). "Meet Hauwa Ojeifo founder of She Writes Woman, a women-led movement giving mental health a voice". This is africa. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  2. "'People think you can pray things away'". Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  3. Aisha Salaudeen. "She was diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Now she is helping others work through theirs". CNN. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
  4. Geall, Lauren (2020-09-24). "Hauwa Ojeifo wants to change the way Nigeria views mental health". Stylist. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  5. "Hauwa Ojeifo, the 26-year-old Nigerian championing women's mental health in Africa and getting global recognition". Face2Face Africa. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
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