Transforming the community’s view of gender-based violence, rehabilitating women and empowering them to earn their own income by training them on how to make products from waste.

Olutosin Oladosu Adebowale

Olutosin has devoted her life to gender equality and the elimination of violence against women. Through her extensive work with women who are survivors of domestic violence she has gained a deep understanding for their situation and the problems that they face in their communities. By combining her knowledge and passion for women’s rights with her skills in craft making she takes an innovative and constructive approach to women’s empowerment by using “turn trash to treasure, turn abused women into assets” as a motto to guide her work.

Olutosin took part in SE Forum’s SE Outreach Accelerator in 2016.

Star of Hope

The Star of Hope Transformation Centre runs a support and empowerment training program for women who are survivors of domestic violence. The purpose of these programs is to bring women together and educate them on their rights, but also to train them in craft making and give them skills to recycle “trash” and turn it into “treasure”. They recover old Styrofoam, towels and fabrics, that would otherwise be thrown away, and use these materials to make cooking bags, laptop cases, flowerpots and washable sanitary pads. The women are also trained in banking, book keeping and marketing so that they can use their production skills earn their own income in the future. Olutosin also works with the men in the community in order to create a behavioral change that will last after her training has ended. The SE Outreach Accelerator will give Olutosin the opportunity to develop her business model and work on increasing her revenue streams, so that she can continue the important work towards her vision of a world where violence against women no longer exists.