Faith Hope Foundation

Happy Friday!!

16 Days of Activism to End Gender Based Violence: Success Story

In the course of 16 days of Activism to End Gender based violence against women and girls lot of issues came out as we were having online awareness on our social media platforms. It is very devastating that a lot of women and young girls are being silenced and there are lacking knowledge and uplifting messages on how to deal with abuse and different perpetrators. As Faith Hope Foundation during the awareness campaign we mainly focused on educating young girls and women on our social media platforms, educating and alarming them on how to protect young girls and women in our society and homes. It was so disturbing that a lot of young girls and women are living in fear in their own homes and around their own family members. At the end there are lacking knowledge on how to deal with such issues.
During the awareness campaign to end Gender based violence against women and girls there was a certain young girl who was brave enough to share her story with us. Rumbidzai (not her real name) wrote a note to Faith Hope Foundation narrating on how she was r**ed by her mother’s boyfriend 8 years ago and her grandfather s*xually assault her as well. “I grew up in an abusive family where my father abused my mother as well as us, things were not well for us until my mother decided to run away with me and my 2 siblings.” The young girl narrated her story with so much pain and regret in her voice and she went on to elaborate how they live in farms where her mother started to have different boyfriends. “We went to live in farms in Nyazura where my mother started having boyfriends and brought them to our place, she had this one young man she loved so much but they constantly quarrel with the man.” With tears on her face she explains how the man r**ed her when the mother was out to look for a job at nearby farms. “Whenever they quarrel my mother would go out living the man behind and he would then ask my siblings to go and fetch water or fire wood. that is when he would r**e me. I was in grade 5 when it started.” The young girl said that she told her mother what her boyfriend was doing but she did not take action rather she was feeling sorry for the man.
She said during the same year a certain teacher at her school offered to take stay with her and pay for her school fees in exchange she will be doing some chores at her house. “At first it was nice and l felt very comfortable that I finally get rest. I finished my primary level then it started when I was in form 22. Grandfather, the husband for the teacher started abusing me, he would ask for a kiss and a hug every morning.” It is very heartbreaking to come across issues like these, where a girl child is abused with no one noticing anything. The very painful par is that the grandfather even ask the girl to marry his 40 year old son and the mother agreed to the arrangement.
*xualharrassment **e