DOHS Cares Foundation Hosts Virtual Campaign in Solidarity with Women Human Rights Defenders

On International Women’s Day 2026, the DOHS Cares Foundation convened a virtual campaign titled “In Solidarity with Women Human Rights Defenders.” The event served as a support space for frontline activists, feminists, and human rights advocates to address the psychological toll of defending women’s rights, share experiences of secondary trauma and explore pathways toward collective wellness and stronger institutional support.

Hosted by Ololade Ajayi, founder of the DOHS Cares Foundation, the event featured original poetry, open-mic contributions, a trauma education segment, and a call to action demanding government accountability for the safety and resourcing of women human rights defenders.

DOHS Cares Foundation is a Nigerian women and child rights organisation committed to preventing femicide and supporting survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Operating as both a femicide observatory and a missing women watch, the Foundation works to end gender-based violence in Nigeria by addressing its root causes, including gender inequality, poverty, and illiteracy.

At the event, Ololade Ajayi opened the space with readings from her poetry collection called The Rheavolution, using her poems as therapeutic tools for advocates and survivors. She shared works like “Womanity” and “The Fundamental Women’s Law”, celebrating women’s solidarity, and “Girl!”, a message to young women to resist stereotyping and claim their power. A poignant poem, “Dear Nameless Girl in My Dreams”, reflected Ololade’s encounter with a suspected trafficking survivor, highlighting the lasting impact of secondary trauma on women human rights defenders.

Ololade outlined the neurological and psychological effects of secondary traumatic stress on women human rights defenders, particularly those responding to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). The foundation’s trauma guide highlights that women human rights defenders may experience fragmented memory, self-doubt, emotional instability, numbness, decision-making difficulties, sleep issues and hopelessness. They face heightened risks due to both their gender and advocacy work, and the guide emphasises maintaining mental health while responding empathetically to survivors for sustainable advocacy.

Etido Pius, a Femicide Research Intern, read a love poem by Rudy Francisco as an act of care for the attendees. She also urged support for the DOHS Cares Foundation’s fundraising drive to establish a physical safe space for feminists, survivors, and defenders, offering trauma healing services, meditation facilities, counselling, and community support.

“If you were speaking before, we must now be shouting. If you were shouting before, we must be wailing. Our voices must be amplified; heard in corridors of power, in political spaces.” she said

Ololade Ajayi emphasised the urgent need to tackle violence against women, citing that a woman is killed every 49 hours in Nigeria. She called for government protection, financial support for grassroots defenders, conversion of unused properties into safe shelters, inclusion of women defenders in decision-making, access to international advocacy platforms, and public recognition of their work.