In Conversation with Debbie Ariyo & Dr. May Ikeora on the Factors Driving Trafficking of African Women and Girls

Join us in Conversation with two leading anti-trafficking specalists.

Debbie Ariyo is Chief Executive of AFRUCA, a UK charity she founded in 2001 to address child safeguarding and child trafficking issues in African diaspora communities and provide services to help support children and families and rehabilitate victims. Debbie also chairs the BME Anti-Slavery Network (BASNET) which she founded in 2019 to help promote racial equity, diversity and inclusion in the UK anti-trafficking sector. Debbie is a renowned specialist in human trafficking and has vast experience of designing and implementing diaspora anti-trafficking engagement programmes and service provision for survivors. A former UK civil servant, she holds an Executive Masters in Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Masters in Urban Policy from the University of North London and a Bachelor degree in French and Education from the University of Benin, Nigeria. Debbie is also a Trustee of the Africa Europe Diaspora Development Platform and is an Advisory Board Member of the Journal of Modern Slavery. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. In 2011 Debbie was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Honours List for her work with children and families in the UK.

Dr. May Ikeora, is a women rights activist, author and entrepreneur from Nigeria. She is the Executive Director of Raising Women, an organisation she founded to promote the rights and self empowerment of young girls. She is a published writer and highly regarded specialist on Women, Peace and Security and on the human trafficking of women and girls from Nigeria to Europe.She gained a PhD in Law from the University of Hull and a Masters in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, in the United Kingdom. May is the founder of RWI famous for its Raising Girls Project and Summit. She remains committed to increasing the voices of women and girls towards becoming transformational leaders in Africa and the diaspora.