Former actress Joy Edjeren has detailed a relentless pattern of abuse that followed her from her childhood in a Nigerian village to her teenage years in the city and even continued after she moved to America. She described the abuse as a “spirit” that seemed to follow her, creating a cycle of trauma that she felt powerless to stop. She explained that the cultural expectation of silence for female victims in Nigeria taught her to keep quiet to maintain her “sanity” and avoid being blamed….CONTINUE FULL READING>>>
During her testimony on Delafé Testimonies, Edjeren revealed that the abuse began with an older boy in her village and continued with a houseboy in her sister’s home in the city. The trauma did not end there; even her private tutor, a teacher from her school, began touching her inappropriately when they were alone. She explained that as a female in that society, speaking out would only lead to being shamed and beaten, so she learned to endure the abuse in silence as a means of survival, a pattern that deeply scarred her and shaped her view of the world.
Joy Edjeren said, “As a female, I personally was molested, sexually molested several times. An older boy would call me to come and run an errand and he would touch me sexually. It was almost like a spirit was following me. From the village, sexual abuse, now I’m in the city, the sexual abuse picked up.
My sister hired one of my teachers as my tutor, and when he noticed everywhere was quiet, he would start to touch me again. I couldn’t say anything. In Nigeria, as a female, you can’t say anything. If you do, you are the guilty one. So it’s better that you just keep quiet if you don’t want to be beaten up or be the shame of the society”.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>