Doreen Omosele leads the Blossom Girls Outreach Foundation, which rescues, rehabilitates, and empowers women and girls to leave the sex trade through holistic programs in counselling, skills training, financial education, and mentorship.
Seven years ago, Omosele walked into a crowded brothel with a listening ear and a simple promise to help commercial sex workers start anew. That moment sparked a transformation that would impact more than 500 Nigerian women involved in the trade.
Omosele’s social impact journey
At first, Omosele’s work involved a small team quietly visiting red-light districts, carrying care packages of food, sanitary supplies, and her bestselling book Purple. Written in English, Yoruba, and Igbo, Purple assures readers that they’re worth more than what they’ve had to do to survive.
As word spread, more women began to seek a real path out of prostitution. So, Omosele founded the Blossom Girls Outreach Foundation (BGOF) to build that path for them.
How the foundation works
At Blossom House, the foundation’s six-month residential program, women find a secure environment where judgment ends at the gate. Inside, licensed counsellors offer one-on-one therapy that addresses the trauma of surviving sex and human trafficking. Former residents, now mentors, share honest testimonies about rebuilding a life.
This combination of therapy and communal solidarity helps reshape the women’s understanding of safety and self-worth.
After emotional healing, skills training designed for immediate economic use follows. Participants learn tailoring, hairdressing, or graphic design. Those who complete their training progress to a financial literacy series covering budgeting, bookkeeping, and business planning. With assistance from local accountants, they outline how to transform a sewing machine or salon chair into income.
Every graduate receives business grants towards the end of the program. The foundation requires a clear proposal with line-item budgets and repayment plans for those opting for micro-loan terms. In the past year alone, BGOF has raised and spent over 8 million naira to support its rehabilitation programs and meet the daily needs of beneficiaries.
One powerful metric of success is the return of graduates as mentors. Bolu, who escaped forced prostitution abroad, now runs a tailoring cooperative that supplies school uniforms after receiving 1 million naira in grants. She visits Blossom House weekly to mentor the current cohort.
The foundation further ensures long-term support beyond graduation. It tracks each woman for two years, offering follow-up counselling or booster grants if a business struggles.
Currently, Doreen Omosele is developing a short documentary that utilises her background in design and filmmaking to highlight the reality of life after rehab. She is also piloting a peer-led mobile app that connects graduates to freelance gigs in tailoring, design, and beauty services, ensuring no one has to wait weeks for their first paycheck.
