The founder of
Rubies Ink Initiative for Women and Children,
Esther Ijewere-Kalejaiye, is also the pioneer of the Facebook and Instagram pages,
Women of Rubies.
Rubies Ink
Esther Ijewere is an author, women and child’s rights activist, advocate, columnist, and mother of two. Her initiative is a social enterprise with which she advocates for the rights of women, children and youths alike.
The Olabisi Onabanjo-trained Sociologist is deeply passionate about fighting against rape and she does everything in her capacity to see that all such cases of abuse – harassment, rape, defilement, etc., are handled properly; this includes working with the Lagos State government and other government agencies, especially the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation. She also engages in sensitization and awareness programs to inform women and girls about the increasing rise of rape, how not to fall victims, and how to heal from the abuse peradventure they have become victims.
Rubies Ink is an umbrella under which she carries out other projects – Walk Against Rape (W.A.R.), Women of Rubies, Rubies Ink Media, and College Acquaintance Rape Education (C.A.R.E.) Workshop.
She uses her platform, Women of Rubies, to celebrate exceptional women and to inspire other women in the diaspora. She showcases women who are achieving great feats in their various fields and those who advocate for the betterment of the feminine folk. Women of Rubies also gives room for nomination;s women who are worthy of being celebrated can be nominated and celebrated on that platform.
Esther Ijewere sits on the board of The African Development Imperative (TADI) and is also a fellow with Hillary Clinton’s Vital Voices Global Leadership.
She has been into advocacy and development since 2010. According to her, 4,035 cases (rape, defilement, harassment, sexual abuse) were handled by the Lagos State Ministry of Justice in 2016, and
140 offenders were prosecuted.
College Acquaintance Rape Education (C.A.R.E.) is the platform she uses to educate young kids on how to identify abuse and the need to report such case to the necessary authority. Taking it further, she wrote a handbook titled,
‘Breaking the Silence’. The handbook serves as a toolkit for sensitization. In addition, she teaches the kids a code: ‘L.I.E.S.’.
L.I.E.S.
‘L’ stands for ‘Learn to say NO’.
‘I’ stands for ‘Identify the situation’
‘E’ stands for ‘Expose the perpetrator’
‘S’ stands for ‘Say it as it is without conceding the information’
Esther Ijewere-Kalejaiye feels fulfilled with the advocacy role she plays. Her mentors are her mother and Kate Henshaw . Her role model is Remi Shonaiya.
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This article was first published on 20th April 2018
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