On a night walk to a shopping centre one day, a teenage girl from Kilifi South constituency was accosted by a stranger who defiled her.
Salma Dama* (not her real name), now 15, recalls how a man dragged her into the bush and forced himself on her.
To make matters worse, Dama, who was then in Form 2, got pregnant after the violation.
I caught up with her in Mwafusi Village, Chonyi, during a sensitisation meeting of survivors organised by Women in Action against Gender-based Violence (Wima).
Kilifi South, and specifically the so-called ‘Chonyi land’, has been described as a notorious hotspot for GBV against teenage girls, and perpetrators are mostly people known to the victims.
Dama says her life was changed by her experience.
“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 said.
Her father then advised her not to abort the pregnancy, and she carried it until the delivery time six months ago.
She is now a teenage mother of a boy, but her dreams 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 to well-wishers to help me so I can go back to school and excel to fulfil my ambition,” she says.
Life has never been the same since she gave birth, as she is forced to struggle, doing odd jobs to feed the son.
Last year, officials from Wima visited their area and offered her some support.
Wima has been at the forefront in campaigning against GBV and supporting victims to get justice, and those who got pregnant to continue with their education after giving birth.
Dama says the officials helped her with sanitary pads, soap, inner wear, masks and sanitisers, which the survivors struggled to get.
“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.
VICTIMS OF CIRCUMSTANCES
Most 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.
Reports indicate that most victims in Kilifi South, and particularly Chasimba and other areas within Chonyi, do not get justice as the suspects usually escape, never to be seen again.
This forces some of the girls to drop out, get married or do odd jobs for survival, making it hard for them to complete their education.
Josephine Kache*, 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 1.
“The man confronted me and defiled me, and I got pregnant. After that, my parents stopped me from going to school,” she says.
Just like Dama, her perpetrator also escaped, and his inhuman act also cut off her dream of becoming a doctor as she has not been able to go back to school.
Kache now lives a miserable life as it's difficult to get the basic needs to support her and the child she is bringing up.
She says 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 Kache 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, I would appeal for help so that I go back to school."
MOTHER'S PAIN
Sidi Karisa*, a mother of five, including four girls and one boy, is also in agony after her first-born daughter was defiled by a relative.
She recalls that in January last year, she had gone to a burial and when she returned home, she found that her 14-year-old daughter had been defiled by her cousin.
“When I came home, I did not find my child at home but others told me she had left the house from 1pm and had not returned. I looked for her in the compound and did not see her,” she says.
Later, the girl returned and lied that she was asleep inside, before admitting that a man aged 26 years had forced her to have sex in the bush.
The inhuman act really pained her to date, and she has not healed since the suspect is from the same home she stayed in and his father is a village elder.
She reported to the police station but the suspect has never been arrested to date as he escaped after committing the crime.
Karisa is also lucky to have support from a Wima official, who helped her report the matter to the police and even go for tests in hospital.
“My child was also taken to the rescue centre. They also sent money via M-Pesa and it really helped me,” she said.
The case is delaying and she feels justice will not prevail because neighbours are laughing at her.
At first, she informed the father but he took the matter lightly and is now worried that there would be no action.
“I wanted my daughter to pursue her education fully so as to assist me in future, but I am in pain because of what happened to her,” Karisa says.
Each day the pain gets stronger because she wakes up in the morning to see the parents of the suspect, who has not been arrested.
LETDOWN BY POLICE
Wima has been working with Centre for Rights Education Awareness (Creaw), which is also championing against GBV. Officials say the survivors are really going through many challenges because of poverty.
Mwanajuma Umazi, a child protection volunteer from Kilifi South working under Wima, said her subcounty has become notorious for defilement cases, and many suspects have not been brought to book.
Previously, many cases went unreported. But even with more reporting nowadays, inaction frustrates the quest for justice.
“Right now, we have a police station here in Mwele. We report cases there but many times, the perpetrators are not arrested even if they are known,” she says.
“When we ask, we are told there is no vehicle. Parents are told to look for fare. Last week, we got a police vehicle but many cases are yet to be handled.”
Her prayer is to get support as the cases are many and perpetrators are their own people.
Some parents of the perpetrators normally threaten victims and child protection volunteers, while they are forced to spend money in person to pursue the cases.
Umazi stays with the survivors as the police have no rescue centre protection.
“Parents are to blame for these cases because they do not take care of their girls. Girls here in Chonyi start growing breasts from eight years and when they ask for basic needs from parents, they are dismissed, forcing them to look outside,” she says.
She says disco matanga is not to blame, saying parents have abandoned their roles as children are also exposed to smartphones and watch pornography, ending up getting feelings and engaging in sex.
Most victims end up getting married or just being left in the home to live freely while bringing up children.
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 says they have been supporting the teenage girls with dignity kits, which consist of pads, underpants, sanitisers, masks and soaps, enabling them to have their basic needs.
She appealed for support from other organisations to reach out to many teenagers for sensitisation.
