Courage is defined as the ability to do something that frightens one. “Cowgirl Courage” is defined as speaking up, standing up, and saddling up to eradicate injustices that are derived from a lack of courage.
Abigail Benz, founder of the nonprofit, Cowgirl Courage , said those injustices can include anything from human trafficking to an increase in veteran suicides.
Benz created Cowgirl Courage in 2020 as her platform for a national rodeo royalty contest. She based it on the John Wayne quote, “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” After seeing the quote hanging on a sign in a host family’s home, Benz said there is nothing that cowgirls have more than courage. While her original focus was primarily human trafficking, the organization has now grown to represent any situation that is caused by a lack of courage.
In the Summer of 2019, Benz completed a 12-week internship in Nepal with Love Justice International, an anti-human trafficking organization. This is where she found her passion for advocating for the subject. The organization intercepted girls and women who were in the process of being trafficked out of Nepal into other countries.
“I thought I would just be doing data research and making sure all the numbers matched up,” Benz said. “The first three weeks I was there we visited the villages and there were hardly any young girls or women and that really changed my perspective. The biggest problem I have faced is a lot of people are not comfortable talking about human trafficking. After I went to Nepal, I realized this is happening more often because people don’t want to acknowledge it.”
“No one really wanted to say what my platform was,” Benz added. “They did not want to say the word human trafficking.” In fact, several encouraged her to change her platform to something less harsh.
Benz did not change her platform, but evolved it to encompass all injustices. This allows people to make Cowgirl Courage fit into all aspects of their lives. The core of the organization was always to advocate for injustices. Each person holds a different cause close to their heart, Benz said.
“For me, it has always been human trafficking,” Benz said. “For my mom, it’s illiteracy. Everyone has something different they want to advocate for.
“The more I talked about it and the more I pushed for it led to some rodeo committees agreeing to let me hang the hotline number in the bathrooms and rodeo programs,” Benz said. “They allowed me to put those resources out there and encourage people to say something if they see something.”
She has since released Cowgirl Courage apparel and merchandise to help spread awareness of the brand and organization. Benz said by having the patch and logo on hats, t-shirts, bracelets, mugs, and other various items allows a conversation to open. When someone is asked what Cowgirl Courage means they can speak on whatever injustice they hold close to their heart.
