Written By Ramadhan Kambi 📝
They came to this world with hope. The hope of success and their desires to be the faces of change.
So what happens when the dreams of their lives is shattered and life left to the dogs?
It is a scaring scenario that has haunted a number of girls in Kilifi County.
At a shopping Centre within Kilifi, we meet one of the young ladies whose dream of better future was almost shattered after an encounter with a man who defiled her on her way home in Kilifi South.
Kache Kitsao* (Not her real name) who is now 15 years old recalls how a man dragged her into the bush and defiled her.
To make matters worse Kache who was then in form two got pregnant after the inhuman act.
I caught up with her in Mwafusi Village in Chonyi during a sensitization meeting organized by Women in Action Against Gender-based Violence with survivors of the plight.
Kilifi South and specifically the so called ‘Choy land’ has been described as a notorious hotspot for Gender-Based Violence among teenage girls and mostly perpetrators are people known to the victims.
Scot Free
On the material day Kache recalls that she met a man while on the way to the shop, who forcefully defiled her.
“When I got home, I informed my parents about the ordeal, they went to report to the police station but to date, the suspect has never been apprehended,” she reveals.
Her father then advised her not to abort the pregnancy and she carried it until the delivery time six months ago.
The ordeal has now turned her to be a teenage mother of a six months old boy. Even though, her hopes of becoming a nurse are slowly fading away as she is yet to report to school due to financial constraints at home.
“My dream was to become a nurse. I appeal for well-wishers to help me so that I can go back to school and excel to fulfil my ambition,” she said.
Last year she revealed that officials from WIMA which has been on the forefront of campaigning against GBV and supporting victims get justice while those who got pregnant continued with their education after giving birth visited their area and offered her some support.
Kache says the officials helped her with sanitary pads, soap, inner wears, masks, and sanitizers which was not easy to get them.
“I really thank them for supporting us because getting such necessities is a challenge until you work to get money but they offered to help us,” she says.
Teen Pregnancy ‘Hotspot’
Majority of the girls living in her area have challenges because of the high poverty levels among the families forcing them to look for boyfriends to get pocket money for buying their basic needs.
She is not the only one who has undergone such injustices.
Reports indicate that most victims in Kilifi south and particularly Chasimba and others within Chonyi do not get justice as the suspects normally escape not to be found again.
This forces some of the girls to drop out, get married or do odd jobs for survival making it difficult for them to complete their education.
Josephine Dama* 17 is another survivor who got pregnant last year on October 12 after she was defiled by a person known to her.
At that time, she was in form one.
“The man confronted me and forcefully defiled me and I got pregnant after that, my parents stop me from going to school, education,” she says.
Just like Kache her perpetrator also escaped not to be seen again in her area and his inhuman act also cut off her dream of becoming a doctor as she has not been able to go back to school.
Currently, Dama lives miserable life as it’s difficult to get the basic needs to support her and the child she is bringing up.
She reveals that it has been a matter of struggling to buy soap and other basic needs by doing odd jobs since he was born to date.
The baby is six months old now and she is ready to go back to school if she can get sponsors willing to support her education.
“If there are any well-wishers ready to help me from the Government, I would appeal for help so that I go back to school”
Sidi Karisa* mother of five including four girls one boy is also in agony after her first-born daughter was defiled by a married man.
Karisa which is also not her real name recalls that on the material day last year January she had gone to the burial and when she returned home and found that she had been defiled.
She reported to the police station but the suspect has never been arrested to date as he escaped after committing the inhuman act.
Mwanajuma Umazi a Child protection volunteer from Kilifi South working under WIMA said her sub-county has become notorious with cases of defilement and many suspects have not been brought to book.
She said they always ensure they take the cases to the police for action to be taken as most suspects who are people known to them.
Saumu Mwadime WIMA Finance officer said they have been working in Kilifi South, Ganze, and Magarini and cases are worrying as teenage girls are defiled.
She said they have been supporting the teenage girls with dignity kits which consist of pads, underpants, sanitizers masks, soaps so as to enable them to have the basic needs.
She appealed for support from other organizations so as to be able to reach out to many teenagers for sensitization.
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