One evening, as her sister travelled, Mabinty was raped by her brother in law. “On that fateful evening I was alone with my sister’s husband, we were watching a movie in the sitting room when he tried to have sex with me. I refused and he raped me. I was afraid to tell my sister or anyone as he threatened to kill me and to tell my sister to send me back to my village,” Mabinty explained.
Mabinty was frightened, ashamed and alone. She did not want to be sent back as she loved school and was scared all of that would be taken away from her.
Three months later and Mabinty’s sister noticed that she was pregnant. Her brother in law threw her out of the home and the elders turned their backs on her. Mabinty had to roam the streets, seeking shelter and food from neighbours for over two months before she was rescued by her friend’s family who accepted her into their home.
Mabinty was struggling to access maternity health care services. “I was not going to a clinic because I did not have money to pay for medical services and I was emotionally broken when my sister rejected me,” she said.
Fortunately, Mabinty was booked by the Aberdeen Women’s Centre outreach field team and was enrolled into the Dream Girls program. She gave birth at the Centre to a bouncing baby boy where she continues to access free medical care. Mabinty was part of the first team that was enrolled into the Girls Hostel Skills Training Program where she received training on Catering and Hospitality, Literacy and Numeracy, Health Education, Art and Craft and Counselling.
Mabinty is now undertaking formal education and she is using the skills acquired from her catering classes to work and pay for her school fees and to take care of her child. It is incredible the difference your support can make in someone’s life today.
Your donation will ensure that we can continue to help young women like Mabinty and her child. We need your help to be there for people when they need us most. Please make an urgent donation of today.
As Mabinty said to us, “I wonder what life would have been like without Aberdeen Women’s Centre. Where would I have been?”
