GIRL-CHILD

TRIGGER WARNING: This content contains explicit contents and graphic descriptions of abuse and might trigger Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Reader discretion is advised.

DISCLAIMER: The names used in this blog are FICTIONAL, although the stories are based on real events.

So, ladies, tell me your truth.

“It was my dentist. After he finished checking my teeth, he tried to kiss me. I pushed him and ran away. I was only 8 years old.” - Chika

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“You see this scar on my head? I never told anyone the truth behind it because they wouldn’t believe me. I jumped out of a moving car. That isn’t the shocking part. I jumped out because my pastor did not stop rubbing his hands under my clothes while he drove me to school every morning. I got sick and tired of it that I thought it was better to die than tell anyone what pastor was doing.” - Faith

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“During our lessons, my lesson teacher used to sit close to me and rub his hands on my thighs. I can’t really remember but I was in primary 4 or 5 that time.” - Aisha

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“Every time I walked home from school, my neighbour’s father used to slow down his car next to me and catcall me. I was only 10!” - Angel

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“When I used to share bed with my cousin whenever we travelled to our village, she would play with my nipples and private part. She was 16 and I was 12 when it stopped.” - Temilade

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“Our nanny used to rub our vagina against hers before we bathed. She said it’s a way to cleanse our vagina before shower. She did it to us for three years straight. We were not even up to 7 years old when she left our house.” - Sandra and Lovette (cousins)

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“There was a boy in my secondary school that was so obsessed with me, he used to follow me everywhere and put weird letters in my locker. I reported it to the teachers in my school and they only said, “It’s because you’re a fine girl, he’s just chasing you”. Ogini? All of you are mad! He was a stalker and it drove me mentally insane. I had to leave the school, or else it could have led to something worse.” - Favour

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“I hated that I hit puberty early while I was in JSS1. My class boys always used the size of my breast and ass as measuring stick to make other girls feel small. It made me feel somehow. What’s worse was when SS3 boys tried to force me to date them because of my body type. Mehn, I was scared for my life everyday because of the way the boys used to look at my body like I was one agbalumo to be eaten. It was not funny.” - Edidiong

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“I was a bit too friendly with guys because if I didn’t answer them, they would be aggressive. But they interpreted my friendliness with flirting and they all started spreading rumours that I was knacking them. My classmates and teachers started calling me “ashewo” or “slut” because of these fake rumours. And I swear to you, I’ve only kissed two boys in my entire secondary school stay.” - Bisola

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“When we came in as new students in JSS1, the senior girls gathered about five of us to their room to kiss them, finger them or give them head. Do you know what’s worse? I picked up that habit when I became a senior and now I struggle as a lesbian. Girls were all I ever knew and I hate that those seniors exposed me to such dirty acts that I can’t find men attractive.” - Princess

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“I was only 9 years old when my older sister made me watch porn with her. Now I am addicted to porn and… it’s impossible for any man to satisfy me in bed. I hate that I can’t enjoy the actual act itself. I wish she never made me watch it in the first place.” – Udoka

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“(Sighs) Right from my childhood years up to when I was a teenager, the uncle I used to stay with sexually abused me. It was consistent. How I feel… it’s not something that can be explained unless you’ve experienced it. And I don’t wish anybody to ever experience it.” - Latifa

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“My mother sent my little sister to buy milk from this mallam’s shop nearby. That was when the three men raped her there. Hm? Where is she? She’s dead. She died when the third man was strangling her while he was doing it. If not that the mallam’s daughter saw the whole thing, who would have known the truth? Because the only people that know the real truth are the victims and the devils themselves.” – Mariam’s sister

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“I come as one, but I stand as 10,000”

– Maya Angelou

According to UNICEF, one in four girls in Nigeria had experienced sexual violence before the age of 18.