THE INTERVIEW SESSION WITH KRISTIE-OPE

 Over the years, there has been controversies over gender inequality, sexual harassment, female discrimination and so many other issues concerning the female folks. Ojthorpe Blog was opportune to meet with one of Africa's young female activist KRISTIE OPE, in which she was able to share with Ojthorpe Blog her ideologies and motive for creating the KRISTIE-OPE Foundation in an interview session.

YOU ARE POPULARLY CALLED “KRISTIEOPE FEARLESS” THAT SOME HARDLY KNOW YOUR REAL NAME,WHAT’S YOUR REAL NAME AND HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME “KRISTIEOPE’’?

 My name is Erinfolami Olajumoke, when the foundation was about to start I couldn't come up with a nice name,  I wanted something catchy and different so I decided to coin KRISTIEOPE from my other names which is Christiana Opeyemi. 

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF?

 I am a God chaser, and I have passion for young ladies as I believe that they are mostly vulnerable to various kind of abuse,  and mostly have no one to talk to but their friends, I am a student of Lagos State University from the faculty of law 400 level. 

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ‘’KRISTIOPE FOUNDATION’’? 

 Kristieope is a non-governmental organization that is committed to advocacy and canvassing the prior importance of femininity, moral uprightness and decent sexual relations, free from harassment, intimidation and all unwholesome behavior in campuses. Kristieope is a female gender development movement that advocates and marches against sexual abuse, rape, prostitution and indecency in university campuses. 

 From inception, the movement trusts that the incessant harassment on girls and female lecturers who are taken advantage of by their counterparts due to their naïve and weak nature can be curbed.  Advocacy as a strategy has commenced; taking advantage of the social media to disseminate viable information. Also, tools such as Counseling, Street (Campus) March, Tea Time, Conference and Outreaches targeted at our audience at all touch points are already deployed.  The aim is to build a total female figure and not another work of art in a man’s gallery; a female not withdrawn or afraid to relate with the male gender because of being noticed or targeted for harassment. We intend to build a very decent campus community which is sine qua non to building a decent society.  KRISTIEOPE was born in the prestigious Lagos State University, Ojo Campus and has so far through her activity connected with the university’s other campuses-LASUCOM and Epe Campus. The movement also has registered her presence with the University of Lagos and University of Nigeria Nsukka.   

THE FUTURE PLAN FOR KRISTIEOPE FOUNDATION?

Kristieope is a big foundation and by God's grace it's going global, We are starting with educational systems first and we would be taking it to a higher level but we wont leave our ladies out of it. The foundation is for them and any growth that the foundation is going to experience will always be for them. 

YOU JUST HAD A CONFERENCE LAST MONTH, WHAT INSPIRED THE IDEA OF THE FEARLESS CONFERENCE AND WHAT WAS IT ABOUT? 

 There are real life issues that informed the decision to flag the sacrosanct conference,FEARLESS CONFERENCE was organized to unravel the mysteries behind sexual harassment, reach out to affected girls and offer real-life-solutions to victims. The essence of the conference is to sanitize the campus, put a check on lecturers and give girls the courage to pursue their academic goals without fear. 

  The conference also addressed within the campus cycle, the activities of bad boys and cultists against our girls. This is even more dangerous as the affected girls are either shy to speak out because they can’t find a confidante or an established platform or institution that is ready to listen and act.  Meanwhile, as we focus on happenings on campus, the conference did not leave out girls who have to deal with issues from the home front. 

We spread our tentacles to relating with parents,  We strongly believe that an experience of sexual harassment is capable of leaving a soul in the dungeon of self-hate, and robs such soul the capacity to get up and reach for life. For some of these young ladies, they have lost the definition of life; they just exist, but do not live. 

Some have resorted to the life of “red color rooms”; yet some do not share the value of a meaningful life. For majority, they have settled permanently for mediocrity.

  Every day, the media hauls at us news and ordeals of how an eighty year old man violated a seven year old infant, or how a lecturer in one university incessantly demands sexual exchange for grades, the worse are untold; they are not open to media eye. 

These attacks are particularly targeted at weak and vulnerable girls who often are left to face the peril of trauma and the challenge of living up. We may not be able to change where we are coming from, but we might be able to determine where we are going. We cannot completely erase the hurts of the past but we can shape the future of the innocents and create a platform to safeguard them. This is the time to give the right information to our young girls. It is a time to encourage and mend the broken, a time to give hope to the traumatized and help them believe again. 

AS A YOUNG FEMALE ACTIVIST, WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE AND HOW DO YOU MANAGE IT?        

I can remember when I had my first walk, a lot of people that I have never seen before came to me and threatened me. Some said I should stop what am doing and some said they will get back at me, but I was not moved rather I was happy because it means I have become a terror to them. I also know strongly that I have God's backing so I decided not to be moved. 

Also I have heard a lot of defaming names and title some ladies have given me, Some said I am just looking for cheap sympathy,some said I am looking for fame and seeking attention but I will always take criticism serious but not personal, I should be happy that people are getting to know that there is a foundation that cares for ladies, irrespective of what they say all that matters to me is that broken hearts are mended and ladies that needs counseling gets it and they are healed of their past. 

IF A LADY WHO WAS HARRASED SHOULD WALK UP TO YOU RIGHT NOW AND ASK ON WHAT SHE CAN DO ABOUT IT ,WHAT WOULD BE YOUR ADVICE TO HER? 

The first thing I will do is to ask two questions which is one what happened and two are you ready to forgive, the reasons for this questions is to know how the victim is reacting to the abuse and I can only know when I ask her what happened.

 The second reason is to help the person heal and move on  with her life. Forgiveness is key and without it, it's difficult to get rid of the trauma. There are different stories of abuse and there are different approach to getting it solved. 

DO YOU HAVE ANY WORD OF ADVISE FOR LADIES GOING THROUGH ONE FORM OF HARASSMENT THAT CAN’T SPEAK OUT?

I would say that living in fear is like living below standard and also living in the dark,  the courage you need can only be built by you the best any other person could do is to encourage you.

  You do not need to keep living in the hurt of the past, you need to put off those heavy loads and thought, always remember our should be a type of fear and not a prey to fear.

 My mentor pastor Mavis gave an illustration he said when a lion and deer meets the deer sees fear the lion sees food, it doesn't matter if the animal is long like a girlfriend or big like an elephant the lion does not back out of any fight the lion is fearless and dears any animal that comes his way. 

 When he sees a prey he roars and the prey trembles. Remember the question is who won't let you but who will stop you. 

THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.