Category: New Woman

Mrs. Omotola Rotimi, a chartered mediator, is Director, Office of the Public Defender (OPD), Lagos State Ministry of Justice. She talked about the activities of the agency in providing free legal services in both criminal and civil matters as well as reacted to issues of domestic violence and child abuse when she met with Hannah Ojo.

IT appears OPD handles more of domestic violence and abuse than criminal cases. What is the reason for that?

It is because most of the time that had is the aspect the press is interested in. They shy away from the criminal aspect areas which we do very well. For instance, in 2013, about 80 percent of our cases were criminal cases. Even the domestic violence that we are talking about is also a criminal matter because you have elements of assault. When somebody rapes a person, even though it is violence but it is also criminal in nature.

How do you cope with the large cases, looking at the number of people since you handle free cases?

Just in January alone, we had already handled 912 cases. If just in a month we had dealt with such number of cases, then it goes to show the seriousness of what we are doing here. Currently, my staff strength is about 105; about 75 of them are lawyers. We have project officers and we have state counsels, so we handle cases spread across all Lagos. Of course I have social workers as well because there are some cases that involve children or matrimonial issues that have to be taken to the family court. We have interns, youth corps members and support staff, so with all these people we are able to manage and juggle all these matters and still get an effective result.

What are the notable challenges confronting the operations of the agency?

The big challenge still has to do with the victims and witnesses in cases. I am going to put the criminal and the civil together in the sense that when somebody comes to report a case to you and you have to investigate because the OPD law allows for that. We have to investigate to know if there is an element of truth in the allegation and it will also assist us in proffering the necessary solutions to a particular case. You find out that even the witness may not be forthcoming with enough information or the witnesses are not strong enough to have a very strong case in court.

Then you now have to dig deep and do investigations with other parastatals and agencies. You find out that you do not only look at the criminal aspect but what actually causes that person to commit that offence. It might be that the person is mentally unstable, poor or out of sheer ignorance. And then we have to treat that issue as well so that we won’t have a reoccurrence in our hands. Aside the victims, another challenge we have is in the area of persecution. For instance, the offices of the public defender in other jurisdictions have police officers and military officers that will assist the agency in investigating allegations. For instance, now, I would say in a case involving forensics, a pathologist comes to court and because the prosecution called the pathologist to come and give evidence as to the report that emanated from his office, the public defender should also have its own pathologist to counter, whether rightly or wrongly, and inform the court from their own angle. But then, so far, we have only been relying on just whatever the prosecutions gives.

Another area is this issue of even the witnesses and the defence also interviewing the witnesses before the case goes to court. But what you find out here now is that it is only during cross examination that the defence counsels cross examine the witness(es) of the prosecution whereas in other jurisdiction, you are allowed to even go to their house.

Have there been instances of clashes of religion and tradition?

Yes, especially when it comes to the issue of matrimony and child abuse. For example, the issue of child marriage. We have rescued children that have been given to older men in their late fifties and sixties in marriage. We have been able to rescue the children and what we have done is that we tell them so far you are in Lagos State you have to comply because we have domesticated the child’s right act to child right law. We have been able to educate them and tell them the importance of education and the dangers of giving out their children in early marriages and most of them, because of the education they had, have responded positively and allowed these children to go to school. Those areas of religion and custom have actually intervened in such cases. We have had cases of people of eastern origin where the woman lost her husband and she was sent packing because all the children are females. We have been able to talk to the husband’s family and show them why these children are just like any other male children and how blessed and useful they are. Some families have actually started to reason and by that we have been able to assist so many widows that ordinarily would have been left without anything to cater for their children at the end of the day. We have assisted them in getting whatever should be their own inheritance.

In your capacity as the director, please share some of the pathetic cases the agency has handled?

Some of the cases had to do with children. We have had a case where a step mum, just because the girl put her hand in the pot of soup, ‘cooked’ the girl’s hand. The girl is in the protective custody of the state as I’m talking to you and the woman is currently being prosecuted for what she has done. There is another case where the girl was asked to sell pap by her guardian and because the person who bought the pap returned it and said she was no longer interested and the girl took the pap back. Just because the girl had done that, she beat up the girl, threw her for about three times and broke her bones. After some time, she took the girl to traditional bone setters and it became bad that the girl had to be rushed to an orthopaedic hospital and the two hands had to be amputated. These are the kinds of abuses that usually come to mind and the cases are very pathetic. There is also another case where a child was alleged to have lost N1000 and because of that, the child was mercilessly beaten and a razor was used to slash his body. Meanwhile, the aunt of another girl living in the same compound, who was alleged to have stolen the money after beating the girl plugged an iron and inflicted wounds on the child just because of N1000. These are babies for Christ’s sake. These are kinds of the pathetic cases that we have had that are quite disheartening. So, one would now begin to question why women are becoming aggressive to their children. All I can see is transferred aggression probably because they are frustrated with their marriage or about something else and then they take it out on the children.

Advice to women?

Women must know their rights under the law and that of their children. They must know that in Lagos State, the domestic violence law is in operation and everybody is protected under that law including those working for them. If women know their rights, perhaps this issue of transferred aggression will reduce. If we know our responsibilities as parents under the law, the issue of violence will actually reduce. They cannot leave their responsibilities to the government and they cannot run away from it either.

Your agency often engages in charity visits to orphanages, what is the inspiration behind it?

I would say because we do lots of things with children, my officers are quite dedicated and passionate even up to the cleaners and drivers. It has eaten into our flesh that when we see children, we should respond positively to them. Even during Christmas, my staff as a whole, we donate a lot of things to charity organisations and even government also assists us especially during festive periods to provide for the needs of these charity homes by giving them food, clothes and provisions. The public believe that since we are OPD, we have the ears of the government and we would probably bring to the notice of government the needs of these children. And that is why even the government is so responsive towards us giving to charity and then the government sponsors us. Also, individually, lawyers and my members of staff also contribute and give to charity institutions.

There has been an increase in reported cases of rape, is it that rape is increasing or people now have the courage to come out and talk?

I think it is the second one. People are now having the courage to come out and speak. Even when a child is defiled, parents are coming out. Even a mother is coming out against the father to speak. I think the awareness is gradually setting in and people are becoming more aware of the positive part of reporting such cases because it is in two ways. Number one, it is undergoing a kind of psychological and medical treatment, putting the past behind them and moving forward with their lives. Then, it also affords the suspect because the suspect might need medical attention which most of the time we shy away from. When we say people are paedophile, they are sick because I can’t understand how a man will defile a 40-day old baby. Obviously, that is a sick man who needs medical help. So, in order to reduce the number of paedophiles among us, people need to speak out and even the paedophiles have to undergo psychiatric evaluation and treatment in order to reduce the number of people molesting children on the street.

EVERYONE knows that being in an unhappy marriage can make people miserable.

But now, researchers have suggested it could even prove fatal.

U.S. researchers believe that an unhappy marriage can cause stress which, in turn, affects physical health.

They believe people who are unhappy with their spouse could be at higher risks of depression, high blood pressure and even heart disease.

As a result, scientists at Michigan State University are set to study how marriage affects cardiovascular health.

They say this is particularly important at a time when one in four people in the U.S. die of heart disease.

Dr Hui Liu, the lead researcher, said: ‘The importance of this study is highlighted by the continued high prevalence of cardiovascular disease in the United States.

‘We plan to provide nationally representative evidence on how marriage affects cardiovascular health and elucidate the multiple mechanisms in this relationship. The findings will have important implications for health policy and practice.’

The researchers say most cases of heart diseases are preventable, meaning identifying risk factors is crucial to the design of effective prevention strategies.

Dr Liu explained that scientists have long believed marriage to be the most important social relationship affecting health.

She believes, for example, that a happy marriage offers support and enhances physical health.

In contrast, she says the stress of an unhappy marriage can cause depression.

This, she says, can promote unhealthy habits, such as smoking and drinking, and can increase the body’s levels of stress hormones.

These hormones can result in raised blood pressure and heart rate eventually leading to heart disease.

THE highlights of the event included Prada, which created looks for fun-loving floozy, and pop star Katy Perry, who graced Moschino runway for a photo call.

Miuccia Prada has created a fashion incarnation of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Lola, Karl Lagerfeld received a homage with a Fendi fur mini-me and Australian actress Rose Byrne was up with the early morning fashion crowd to grab a front row seat at Max Mara as Milan Fashion week offered its second day of womenswear previews for next fall and winter.

Closing out the day, Katy Perry made an appearance at Moschino, showing up fashionably Late for Jeremy Scott’s debut at the label. To make amends, the pop star made a photo call from the runway, dressed head-to-toe in a snug black dress with matching coat and golden accents, including an oversized “Moschino” necklace.

Max Mara, Fendi, Just Cavalli and Prada headlined Thursday’s shows as the fashion crowd continued their appointed rounds. Highlights:

FUN-LOVING FLOOZY

Prada has immersed herself in German culture of the 1980s, film and music, and taken inspiration for her latest collection.

The looks for next fall and winter are for Prada’s Lola of the 1981 Fassbinder film, a fun-loving floozy in ephemeral sheer or silky dress, nearly lingerie, draped in a man’s jacket. The looks were richly adorned in accents of fur, sometimes wisps and sometimes faux shearling.

“I like this theme so much. How it is related to clothes, I don’t know,” Prada said backstage, though she does have some inkling: “It is high and low, sophisticated and slightly vulgar.”

British fashion icon Alexa Chung said she loved the sheepskin coats, and acknowledged that the super-high wedge shoes with a rubberised finish were somewhat intimidating, even for her.

“But I will give it a go,” she said gamely.

PRADA ICONOCLASTS

The invitation to Prada’s newly renovated shops at Montenapoleone said Harlem Renaissance. The pair of stores, men’s and women’s, were finished in September but only formally inaugurated in the presence of the fashion crowd.

Live jazz wafted through the menswear store where a billiard table and card games were set up to suggest the back room to the Harlem Club which was the women’s store down the block.

Prada no doubt wants to keep its customers feeling indulged. The Prada Group this month reported that sales in its stores rose 12 per cent last year to nearly €3 billion (Dh15 billion) the lion’s share of its overall 3.6 billion in sales.

BAG BOY KARLITO

Fendi has a new meme: a furry figure on a string evoking designer Lagerfeld, complete with a neat white ponytail, large white collar and black tie. Silvia Venturini Fendi said it all started with the Fendi bag bugs: festive little creatures that hang from Fendi’s handbags.

Now that tradition has evolved into Bag Boy Karlito, for little Karl. “Not bad boy,” Fendi said backstage, “Bag Boy.”

While the fun figurine also can be attached to a handbag, it had a place of pride in the runway show: carried by a model in a furry helmet as if a lantern lighting the way. Bag Boy Karlito popped out to take a bow after the show, with the real-life inspiration.

Another Fendi fashion forward moment: drones hovered above the runway for a bird’s eye view during the show and delivered light gusts of wind down on to the audience below.

ABS OF STEEL

In the foyer before entering the Costume National runway show, an artiste clad in a black leotard performed abdominal-straining stretches with more precision than most Pilates practitioners. Designer Ennio Capasa called it an exercise “in finding awareness”.

The tie-in between the installation piece by Bastiaan Arler with his collection, shown at the Triennale contemporary art museum, Capasa said, was the notion of breaking boundaries “between fashion and anti-fashion, construction and deconstruction, masculine and feminine”.

On the one side, athletic: there were trousers gathered at the ankle with rich, furry vests, white on white. At the other extreme, feminine: a flowing evening dress had as its neckline a tuxedo collar, black on black.

There were admiral feats of tailoring too: an off-shoulder asymetrical dress was fashioned of strips of fabric sewn along the bias in the front, but in the back a single panel with raised vertical seams.

MINING FLORENTINE TREASURES

Roberto Cavalli took inspiration from Florence’s artistic treasures for his Just Cavalli line, photographing and painting the images himself that he would later incorporate into garments for the younger set.

Details from such landmark Florentine monuments as the Santa Maria Novella façade and Michelangelo’s David were superimposed on satin and silk viscose garments using experimental processes.

Cavalli said he often consults his sales staff to find out what young buyers are looking for. The goal: “I want a different fashion, less attached to advertising and stars”.

ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE, URBAN LANDSCAPE

Max Mara set its English countryside-inspired collection on a cement runway in stark white light. The message was clear: the looks suggest cozy countryside, but the vibe is urban.

Anyone looking for the perfect overcoat knows Max Mara is the place to start, and this collection presents a plethora of oversized coats with innovative accents. One key is the waistcoat that gets sewed over the coat, is worn layered under the jacket or is transformed out of a longer coat, left sleeveless, offering new ways of creative layering.

Max Mara’s cold weather looks for next year, at its heart, is a collection of basics coats, vests and knitwear that give a metropolitan edge to pretty straight skirts that cover the knee or form-fitting dresses composed of jackets and trouser-inspired pencil skirts. Colours are button-down greys, heather, golden and camel.

In keeping with the English theme, tweeds dominate, accented by cashmere wools and shiny vinyl-looking material and gold crocodile prints. The looks are finished with black or gold crocodile booties, and a clutch on a gold chain.

AUSSIE EYES CROCODILE BOOTIES

Rose Byrne says the Max Mara golden crocodile booties caught her eye.

“I am obsessed with the boots,” Byrne said after the preview show.

She took in the show from the front row, wearing a golden Max Mara camisole, dark jacket and wide cream pants. The actress said she long has been drawn to Max Mara’s coats and knits, and feels like she “grew up with the brand”.

Byrne begins filming the spy spoof Susan Cooper with Melissa McCarthy in April. They last appeared together in the 2011 comedy hit Bridesmaids.