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32-year old Nigerian journalist, Tope Delano has just shared a very touching story of how she’s been raped twice, survived post partum depression and how she’s lost almost everyone she loves.

According to her, ‘I was molested between ages of 7 and 11, raped twice, battled depression almost half her life, dealt with post-partum depression, lost 4 persons in a space of 1yr 5 month’.

 

Follow her story below…

 

Singer R. Kelly has come under investigation following the “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary series by Lifetime.

The documentary, which has sparked renewed interest in the allegations of abuse and running a sex cult against the singer, contains interviews from his alleged victims and families of girls still living with him.

Guardian reports that Chicago prosecutor Kimberly Foxx has urged potential victims of the singer to come forward and report their abuse.

There’s nothing that can be done to investigate these allegations without the cooperation of both victims and witnesses. We cannot seek justice without you.

The singer has long since dodged conviction, getting acquited of charges of child pornography back in 2008.

The allegations of different forms of sex abuse have long since existed, as he was accused of allegedly illegally marrying the late singer Aaliyah.

 

Credit: Bella Naija

A group of women and men stormed Yaba Market on Saturday to protest harassment in the market place. Women who visited the market after the Yaba Market March have now reported a massive change in the behavior of the traders towards female customers.

Majority of the women who shared their testimony on Twitter said the traders behaved themselves and tried not to touch them. Those who tried to touch were cautioned by other traders.

Read some of the tweets below.

Lagos women narrate their experience visiting Yaba Market following the Yaba Market March

Lagos women narrate their experience visiting Yaba Market following the Yaba Market March

Lagos women narrate their experience visiting Yaba Market following the Yaba Market March

Lagos women narrate their experience visiting Yaba Market following the Yaba Market March

Lagos women narrate their experience visiting Yaba Market following the Yaba Market March

Lagos women narrate their experience visiting Yaba Market following the Yaba Market March

Lagos women narrate their experience visiting Yaba Market following the Yaba Market March

Credit: LIB
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Ochanya was a very brave child who wanted good education,” Ochanya’s father, Michael Ogbanje, tells Pulse while sitting behind the grave of the 13-year-old in Ogene-Amejo village in Okpokwu local government area of Benue state.

However, there was a problem.

The only primary school in the rural community, a stone-throw from Ochanya’s family house, was closed since 2011 due to non-payment of teachers’ salaries, multiple sources say.

Rusty roofing sheets, cracked and broken down walls are all that remains of the Local Government Education Authority (L.G.E.A) Primary School, Ogene-Amejo, which was established in 1976.

When the primary school in this community stopped functioning, her mother took her to the sister’s place in Ugbokolo where she can go to school,” says Ochanya’s father, a retired military personnel and farmer.

Villagers say it’s common practice for children to relocate and attend schools in other communities or risk walking as much as 32 kilometres to and from school every day.

Ochanya goes to school

Ochanya’s only option to getting an education meant leaving the family house where she enjoyed the love and close supervision of her parents for an aunt’s place in Ugbokolo, Benue State.

Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje would walk into a home of alleged sexual predators. According to Ochanya, Victor Ogbuja, the son of Andrew Ogbuja, started to sleep with her.

According to a Vanguard article published on August 15, 2018, Ochanya spoke about her ordeal: “It all started in 2013 when I came to live with my mother’s sister in Ugbokolo because there was no school in my village.

“When I was eight years old, the son started sleeping with me and when his sister caught him, she reported him to their father and the father scolded him. From there, the father also started sleeping with me.

According to her mother, Rose Abah-Ogbanje, Ochanya was constantly in and out of different hospitals during the over five-year period that she was away from their care.

I took Ochanya to the man’s (Andrew Ogbuja) house so that she can go to school because there is no functional school in this village,” says Ochanya’s mother while recounting her last moments with the girl.

In 2012, Ochanya became sick. We took her to a hospital in [Saint Mary Hospital]Okpoga where we spent about six days during which she got medical attention. She became well and we came back home. Later, the same sickness came back.

“It started again and we went to Federal Medical Center Makurdi. This time, Ochanya could no longer walk and she had lost weight. We spent about two to five days at the hospital and we were discharged.

“When we came back home, Ochanya began to pass waste out of her body without control. We complained at the hospital but they could not stop it,” she recalls.

Ochanya’s health condition was still unclear to her as the aunt allegedly hid results of eleven tests carried out on the girl from her parents.

‘Four months in diapers’

Worried by the uncontrollable passage of bodily waste, Ochanya’s parents queried her to ascertain what went wrong.

When Ochanya returned home, she was still urinating on her body and we continued using diapers on her. So, I told the mum to check and ask Ochanya when bathing her. It was at this point that Ochanya’s mother discovered that she had been sexually abused,” Mr Ogbanje says.

Ochanya’s caregiver in Otukpo took her to the Benue State Teaching Hospital where they ran seventeen tests at N23,000. The tests further revealed that Ochanya was sexually molested through her vagina and anus,” he adds.

Due to the absence of basic social amenities such as a hospital, good road and power, in Ochanya’s village, she was relocated from the Ogbuja house to Restorer of PathCare Foundation.

Caregiver and founder of the home, Evangelist Enuwa Margaret Soo who took over Ochanya’s health issues, corroborated the results of these tests during our visit to the facility in Otada-Ehicho, Otukpo.

“Sometime in June 2018, I got a call from Ochanya’s elder sister who narrated her predicament to me,” Mrs Soo began.

“A few days later, Ochanya’s parents brought her to my office. At this time, one could see that she was physically sick. But we had to run some tests to confirm their stories.

“I took her to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, where it was confirmed that she had been sexually abused carnally and annally. We began to make efforts on how she can be treated,”she adds.

At the time they brought the girl, she was very sick and when we began to make our findings, we discovered that she was actually raped and the doctors confirmed that she was allegedly sexually abused through the vagina and the anus” she reportedly said.

Angered by this discovery, Mr Ogbanje sought to hear Mr Ogbuja’s side of the story.

I called Andrew’s brother, Dominic, to come and hear what Ochanya told me. When we got to the [Ogbuja] house, he [Ogbuja] denied sleeping with Ochanya and asked that we go to the hospital and run any form of test. He also said he would swear an oath to prove his innocence.

“He, however, said his son, Victor, was caught sleeping with Ochanya and he quarrelled the boy, they prayed and he asked them to go and play.

“I was angry. He didn’t even tell his wife. When we told her, she suggested that we run more tests to be sure if it was her husband and son’s actions that led to Ochanya’s ill health.

“We fixed a date to go to the hospital but, she never got in touch with us,” he notes.

How Ochanya died

Recalling her last moments with Ochanya, Mrs Soo says prior to her death, she could neither walk, speak nor eat.

When I came back from an outing on a certain Friday, one of the girls informed me that Ochanya said she was cold. I went in and discovered she was running a temperature,” she says.

One or two days later, Ochanya could no longer make use of her legs. She was becoming lifeless from her waist downwards. Before then, she had challenges controlling her urine. Her mother told me about her condition. All through Ochanya’s days here [June to October 2018], she was on diapers.

“Before she died, she was in so much pains but she could not talk or eat. That girl went through so much. From age eight to thirteen, she was constantly in and out of the hospital,” Soo says.

Ochanya’s broken, sick parents demand justice

Mr Ogbanje, who now tends to the farms to feed his family, says the judiciary is the only hope of the family in getting justice for their late daughter.

I have many children but Ochanya is the youngest. I can never forget her death. I have lost so much weight since she died because she is always on my mind. Whenever I see her grave, I become inconsolable. As I speak to you, I am seriously sick,” he says.

Ochanya was such a brave child who wanted quality education. This was why she could defend herself the way she spoke fluently in court.

“I want to appreciate the government for how far the case has come because I have no power to tackle this matter. If it wasn’t for the government, I could have done nothing because he [Mr Ogbuja] is well connected in the society.

“My plea is that this case ends well because we’re afraid that if justice is perverted, he [Mr Ogbuja] will come and confront us,” he concludes.

Mrs Ogbanje says she’s been unable to eat or sleep since Ochanya’s death.

Ochanya was a peaceful child who loved school; she was equally intelligent and did well in school before death took her away from us,” says her mother.

Since Ochanya died and was buried here [pointing at her grave], I have never come to see her grave [breaks down in tears]. I am deeply hurt by her death. Since my daughter, Ochanya, died, I don’t sleep; I don’t feel hungry.

“The government should have mercy on us and deliver judgement on this case involving Andrew Ogbuja. They should also get his wife and son,” Mrs Ogbanje pleaded amidst tears.

Culled from pulse.ng

Credit: Pulse

Indonesia’s Supreme Court has sentenced a school administrator to 6 months in jail after she exposed her boss’s sexual harassment.

According to ReutersBaiq Nuril Maknun, 37, recorded a telephone conversation with the head teacher of the school who she accused of making repeated unwanted sexual advances towards her.

She was convicted of recording and spreading “indecent” material under the country’s electronic information and transactions law, her lawyer Joko Jumadisaid.

She was also fined 500 million rupiah ($34,000).

In the recording, the principal shared very graphic details about his affair with the school’s treasurer. Maknun’s co-workers later convinced her to release the recording in a bid to expose the man.

A colleague had used the recording to lodge a complaint against the head teacher.

Speaking to Thomas Reuters Foundation on Thursday, court spokesman Suhadi said: “The Supreme Court judges were satisfied that she has violated the law”.

The top court’s judgement, which was delivered in a closed-door deliberation in September 26, overturned a 2017 acquittal from a lower court.

The judgement was only made available this week.

Jumadi said Maknun, a mother of three, would file a judicial review to challenge the court’s ruling. Jumadi said: “She is a victim and she just wants justice.”

Amnesty International’s Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said in a statement:

“It appears a woman was criminalised simply for taking steps to redress the abuse she experienced. It is a travesty that while the victim of the alleged abuse has been convicted… little if any action appears to have been taken by the authorities to investigate what appear to be credible claims.”

Speaking on the issue, Maidina Rahmawati from the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, a Jakarta-based non-profit, said:

“This case is just an example of how the law, which is too vague, could be used against vulnerable women who were trying to protect themselves.”

 

Photo Credit: YouTube

 

News credit: Bella Naija

Of the number, Alimosho Local Government Area has the highest number which was not diclosed.

Mrs Titilola Vivour-Adeniyi, the Coordinator of the DSVRT, disclosed this on Thursday, October 18, 2018, at Roundtable with NGOs organised by the
European Union-sponsored Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption (RoLAC) Programme.

She said:

“The number of reports from the *6820# platform from July to September were 667.

“There were 179 domestic violence reports, 201 sexual abuse reports, 143 reports on child abuse and 144 actual cases.

“The local government area with the highest reports is Alimosho followed by Kosofe, Ikorodu and Ikeja.

“From July to September, the DSVRT attended to 442 clients, 41 of whom were male and 401 female.

“The statistics of the ages of the clients from zero to 17 years was 27; clients of ages 18 to 45 years were 378 and ages 46 years and
above were 37.”

Vivour-Adeniyi noted that the purpose of the roundtable with the NGOs was to create a synergy between the organisations and the
DSVRT in fighting gender-based violence.

“We need a forum to share our successes and challenges as well create a centralised database of NGOs,” she said.

Also speaking, Mrs Jibola Ijimakin, the Coordinator of ROLAC, highlighted the purpose of the organisation which is to implement
the work of the justice sector in Nigeria.

“This is to be done in collaboration with key Nigerian institutions and partners. The purpose of ROLAC is to enhance good governance in Nigeria.

“This is to be done by contributing to the strengthening of the rule of law and curbing corruption, reducing impunity and improving
access to justice for women, children and persons with disabilities,”
 she said.

Ijimakin noted that ROLAC conducted an assessment of the implementation of the Domestic Law in Lagos in June and realised it had
low level of partnerships with NGOs.

She added that the meeting was to bridge the gap between ROLAC and the NGOs.

“The assessment was to note the priority areas the ROLAC should support.

“One of the key findings was that we needed to have more collaboration with NGOs beyond the DSVRT to share information with
NGOs about what we are doing,” she said.

In her address of welcome, Mrs Biola Oseni, the Director of the Directorate of Citizens’ Rights, said the roundtable  was to highlight the importance of NGOs in tackling the scourge of domestic violence in Lagos State.

“In its response to Sexual and Gender Based Violence, DSVRT has taken cognisance of the fact that the NGOs are the first port of call
for most survivors due to its mien.

“We are therefore not oblivious of the roles NGOs and Civil Society Organisations play in addressing issues of domestic violence
in Lagos State and indeed Nigeria.”

Oseni said the Lagos State Government intended to create a directory of NGOs that respond to Gender-Based Violence.

It is our earnest desire that after this roundtable there would be an improvement in synergy between NGOs and DSVRT.

“We hope to also create a directory of NGOs that provides Gender-Based Violence Responses in the state,” she said.

Credit: pulse.ng

She spoke out at the time but she was not given any attention. The global #MeToo phenomenon encouraged her to go public again and on Saturday, October 6, 2018, to file a police complaint against Patekar, who issued a denial.

Dutta also alleged that filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri behaved inappropriately towards her while shooting a 2005 movie. Agnihotri’s lawyer denied the “frivolous” claims.

Dutta said she has received threats but she has also won support from several high-profile stars, while other actresses have now started to speak out about Bollywood’s darker side.

Over the weekend a HuffPost India report published accusations against director Vikas Bahl, one of the four founders of Phantom Films, the edgy production house behind Netflix’s first original Indian series, “Sacred Games”.

A crew member, who is not named, said Bahl insisted on escorting her to her hotel in 2015 and pretended to pass out drunk on her bed, only to awaken and masturbate on her later, HuffPost reported.

Kangana Ranaut, an actress who worked with Bahl on “Queen”, his 2014 hit film touching on female empowerment, came out and said that the director would “bury his face in my neck and hold me really tight”.

“It took me a great amount of strength and effort to pull myself out of his embrace,” she told the India Today news channel.

On Friday, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, two fellow Phantom Films founders, announced on Twitter that they were dissolving the production company.

Kashyap released a further statement over the weekend saying they had not acted earlier because the alleged victim had not wanted to speak out until now.

“Now in hindsight and after taking stock of things myself, I can quite see how I was ill-advised,” Kashyap said.

He added that the company had disciplined Bahl internally by suspending him and barring him from their premises.

Bahl has yet to comment publicly on the allegations.

Stories of bad behaviour are also now emerging about men in other sectors.

A Mumbai comedian, Utsav Chakraborty, last week found himself at the centre of a Twitter storm accusing him of sending lewd messages to women and young girls such as requesting topless photos.

After an initial dismissal, Chakraborty, who now faces a possible police investigation, tweeted that he has “been the exact monster I’ve been trying to fight all my life”.

Another woman shared screen shots of WhatsApp conversations between her and Chetan Bhagat, one of India’s top-selling authors, in which he propositions her and ignores her objections that he is married.

Bhagat confirmed the veracity of the screen shots and said in a long Facebook post that he was “really sorry to the person concerned” — while also apologising to his wife.

Meanwhile The Wire, an online news site, ran an article it said reveals the “dark underbelly” of the Indian media, quoting accusations against at least three newspaper editors.

Credit: Pulse

Ezeigwe Juliet Chioma is a Blogger, Vlogger, Model Coach and Scout, Content Creator, Speaker, Budding Producer, Publicist and a Women and Girl Child Advocate and TV host. A graduate of the Federal Polytechnic Idah, Kogi State, where she studied Science Lab Tech, final year student of Olabisi Obasanjo University(Part Time), studying Mass Communication. An alumni of Paradigm Initiative and CVL young entrepreneurs. Jules is not only passionate about modelling but envisages a modelling industry where we have just smart and Top Notch Models, away from the negative opinion people have about modeling and she has been using her platforms to advocate for this, She recounts one of her personal experience as a model, when the director of a modeling agency asked her to go to his room and take off her cloths, to ascertain if she was good for the job, and how she declined the offer with tears in her eyes and made up her mind at that point to have her own agency devoid of sexual harassment and high respect for models.

She also has a deliberate interest in advocacy for abused women and girl child, which makes her organize both online and offline events to help educate people on abuse. She is the convener of #HelpAnAbusedWoman, My Child, My Hero, Youngster Support Initiative, and the Walk against Abuse. The serial entrepreneur and advocate shares her story and journey so far in this interview.

Childhood
My childhood inspires what I do today, especially in the area of women and child advocacy. Growing up in Ajegunle, where we hear and see the constant beating of women by their husband, boyfriends hitting their girlfriends and a lot of sad tales of little girls getting raped by men old enough to be their fathers. I remember us going into our new neighborhood; I saw a lot of teenage girls get pregnant outside wedlock, I was really surprised, and I went about asking people why it seems young girls get pregnant here. The answers they gave made me cry. Poverty, rape, lack of personality development etc, and then I resolved to start up my NGO called Project F.A.W.A.

Meet me

I am Ezeigwe Juliet Chioma, the first of 2 amazing girls to my parents. I loved and longed to be a model since when I was a teenager, because I loved the girls that modeled for the Orange drugs company then, but unfortunately for me, I stopped growing tall after my secondary school. Lol! For a long time, I was angry with myself, I decided to give it a trail again in the year 2015, and that was when I think I made the mistake of my life, that made me who I am and becoming. I had put my picture on the Sun girl page, and I got a lot of offers from people, to model for them. But the one, I can’t forget, was when the director of a modeling agency, asked that I go to his room and take off my cloth, so as to ascertain if I was good for the job. I declined the offer, looked at him very hard with tears in my eyes and said, give me 2 years I would have my own modeling agency devoid of exploiting young ladies and guys. 2 years down the line, I am living that dream. I love traveling, talking, writing, teaching and inspiring people, especially young ones with my story. I think, I am a social media addict, but the beautiful thing is that, I make money from it.

Inspiration behind Da Jules Media
The inspiration behind it, was when I attended entrepreneurship training at Paradigm Initiative, I went there like every other person that attended, but one of the facilitators did something for us on that day. He asked that we write down what we would love to achieve in the next 5 years, I wrote mine down, and today I am doing practically everything I wrote down. We were formally Da Jules World, but alone the time, we gained clarity and today we are Da Jules Media. I will say the inspiration behind the brand is to discover empower, celebrate, and encourage small business owners and models, with a deliberate interest in women and girl child advocacy

What Modelz Hangout is all about…
Modelz Hangout is an annual event , organized by Jules Modelz Academy where Aspiring, Upcoming and Professional models from all walks of life come together to discuss and share their experiences, peculiarities and the unique challenges they face in the industry. During this event, we have speakers, facilitators and panelists that take these models through the journey of Modeling, Fashion, Health and Fitness, Etiquette, Self Discovery, Personality Development etc.
As the name implies it is a hangout where models connects and gets useful information and insights on how to take their career to the next level. I plan to go into filming and areas pf producing and writing scripts.

Challenges
One challenge I face most importantly is getting funds to run the business.  Seeing that we are just new to the business, lots of people may not trust us enough to get models for their brands. One challenge we are currently facing is getting sponsors for the production of our short movie.

What sparks my interest for advocacy…
Hmmm! What sparks the interest is the environment I come from., fact that I was sexually abused as a child and I won’t want anyone to experience abuse. Another incident I remember vividly while growing up was when an okada man raped a three old girl in his compound, I was devastated, it brought back ugly memories. There and then, I resolved to be a voice for abused women and children.

Projects and activities

I do a lot of project, and the beautiful thing is that, I am so passionate about them all.
Jules Modelz Academy:  We are fueled with the Paroxysm to Discover, Groom, Empower, Promote and Celebrate young talented models, bringing out the best in them, providing them with bigger platforms to exhibit their talents. We also celebrate and promote Modeling Agencies/ Fashion Shows/Events. Our projects under this are. Modelz Hangout, Modelz Meet and Greet, Modelz Day Out, Teens Modelz Academy and Jules

Project F.A.W.A:  is a nonprofit organization that is aimed at making a world class piece that captures the Emotions, Mind and Heart of people, to make an impact in our world living systems through lending our voices to humanities that are victims of abuse, in other to alleviate abuse to its minimal and affect a change in our society. Our projects, includes, The Survivors, My Child, My Hero, Help an Abused
Woman and Walk against Abuse.

I am currently working on The Consequences (A short movie). This is a story about abuse, and how it affects the society.

Greatest reward
That should be the love I get from people on daily basis. People that come to my inbox, and tell me how I inspire them. Recently I have being soliciting for help from my friends on Facebook for the movie, after our principal sponsor, backed out. The love and words of encouragement I get from them before and after helping is rewarding. It means they value me and all I stand for.

Where I see my business in five years time
In the five years, I envisage to see Da Jules Media as the topmost digital, media and modeling company in Africa. I also envisage empowering topnotch models all over the world.

On giving up
Yes I have. A lot of times. Most times, I just ask myself questions like, who send you. Can’t you just leave this thing and go get a proper job. I have being depressed too. But then, I remember why I started and keep moving.

What and who inspires me

Yahweh is my first inspiration. My family comes second and then all the models and lives that are tied to mine do inspire me. The fact that I see my models doing things they love and enjoy inspires me.

I am a Woman of Rubies
I am a woman of Rubies because I Empower, Inspire, Motivate, Promote and Celebrate young women. I am a woman of Rubies, because I don’t give up. I don’t see failures, I see feedbacks

Final words of adviceDon’t wait for the perfect time to start.  Start now and get better. Start small, but never remain small. “Imperfect Execution is better than a Perfect Procrastination” (Steve Harris