Pearl Shim also gave her opinion on rape.
Read excerpts from Pearl Shim Mugalla's interview with Daily Tribune:
How do you protect yourself from harassment of boys?
If boys in my school see me coming, they always take to their heels because I don’t take nonsense! You try to play rough with me and I warn you once, you didn’t hear, warn you a second time, you also didn’t hear, what I will do to you if you come near me the third time, you won’t like it.
What’s your say on the increase of rape cases?
I don’t know. But first things first, as a lady, you shouldn’t leave your girl child with any male. Be it an uncle or even your husband. So, I believe it is partly the fault of mothers. Mothers should be advised against leaving their female children alone with the opposite sex.
What will you do if someone tries to harass you sexually?
It has happened once. Our Yoruba teacher tried to molest me. I don’t know if he had been doing it with other classmates, but I’m not the type that hides things. Because my mum will always tell me that if something happens anywhere, you should tell somebody. During our Christmas Carol when I was in Primary Six, I went to my class to get water from the water dispenser, then I saw the teacher behind me trying to touch me amorously and I pushed him away and he fell on the floor near the staircase, hitting his head on the tiled floor! That was how I came downstairs and told my friends what happened. Immediately after doing to him what was on my mind, I ran to report him to the school proprietor and he was fired.
I would also advise mothers that before their children get to the age of 13 or 14 years, start advising the child. ‘If this man touches you here or there, tell me.’ Not the one that the parents will be beating the child. Nigerian parents like beating a lot and it’s not the best. Though my mum used to scold me while she was alive, she hardly beat me. And granny doesn’t beat me at all.
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