Survivor Story

Afua’s Survivor Story in August 2020

Afua’s Survivor Story in August 2020

A member of our team was contacted by Afua* a survivor of rape and molestation. Afua is a first year student at the University of Ghana, who currently lives with her aunty in Accra (her mother is currently out of the country and her dad moves around a lot). She shared that she was first raped at the age of 7 by an unknown offender. She never reported the case or informed anyone close to her. She informed us that she had been molested a few years ago by her cousin. Unfortunately, she lives under the same roof with said cousin. Afua said her reason for not telling her mother was that her mother is also a survivor of gender-based violence so did not want to burden or stress her mother out. Thus, she had been dealing with her trauma in silence for years, until the recent rape cases in Nigeria that were being widely broadcast and the constant sight of her molester became memory triggers. She shared these details with her friends who encouraged her to seek help, hence her decision to speak with our team. She has been living on campus (UG-Legon) but due to COVID related lockdown and rules she has been at home for the past couple of months. Our first advice to Afua was to try and find a place to stay for the meantime so she avoids any form of contact with her molester. Once she does and we are aware of the costs, the NGO will spearhead a small fundraiser to help with her cost of living and , based on further assessment, a small seed for her to start a business. We plan to connect her with our team psychologist to help her process her situation and advise her on how to be able to share this with her mother

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