By: Amanatullahi Yusuf
The curtain of my harassment rises at a very young age. I can’t recall my exact age at the time but I was between the range of six (6) – seven (7) years. At the time, I knew not what it meant but I felt it was wrong seeing the fact he was jittery and kept glancing at the door as if he didn’t want to get caught.
It was a sunny afternoon, that I remember very much because I had drained myself playing around the compound with the other children. Our compound was a rental and there were lots of kids around my age grade then.
I told them I was too tired and thirsty to carry on playing so I went inside to drink water and rest for five minutes before coming back outside to continue playing. It hadn’t been two minutes after I entered inside when this boy- or rather, an uncle came inside too, he claimed he was tired too.
At the time, he was around 16 years of age, if not older. I was uncomfortable with him being in the same room with me, add the looks he kept sending my way. I decided to close my eyes, at the time, I thought if I closed my eyes I wouldn’t be able to see him and if I couldn’t see him, his presence wouldn’t bother me until he decided to leave or I finished resting.
Oh! The shock I felt when I opened my eyes to see him sitting at the edge of the couch next to the three sitters I was lying on with his hands on my legs, slowly moving them up. Still stunned, I felt the couch I was on the dip in with the weight of a person. With his body almost covering mine up, he was leaning down all the while whispering that all was fine and I shouldn’t panic or yell.
My brain was telling me I was too calm for what was happening and at the same time red alarms were ringing. Before his mouth touched mine, I quickly turned my face away and his lips lightly brushed the corner of my lips towards my cheeks. I slipped from underneath him and hastened outside my home and quickly mixed up with the other children, all the while praying none of them would notice anything because I was too embarrassed about it.
To this day, I still feel his lips moistened with saliva on my cheek every time I remember that unfortunate day.
I know you don’t want this to happen to anyone you love, share my story and create awareness.
Share your story and create more awareness. The more the stories, the faster we can catch the attention of relevant bodies.
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