I got a referral different from any other that I’ve had before. This was a defilement case. I’ll call her Mary[not her real name] for confidentiality purposes. Mary is a sixteen-year-old girl in secondary school from Mwiki, from two to be precise. She is a day scholar. She got in touch with me via call and explained that she went out drinking with her friends on a particular night and that she had a bit too much. She says that the details of that night aren’t that clear, but what she can remember vaguely is that her friends left and someone took advantage of her.
Not knowing how to explain the events that took place to anyone, she kept quiet. She is under age if she confessed to drinking, she would be in much trouble. A month after the unfortunate events, she noticed she hadn’t seen her period. At this point, she was worried, so she bought the pregnancy kit, and it turned out positive. Mary was pregnant. She was also concerned that maybe she might have contracted some STIs. After the call, we met, and I referred her to a service provider for MA and other services[testing for HIV and STIS].
After a week, I checked in to see if she really did go and asked her the follow-up questions. All was well. The procedure was successful, and being that they were on holiday, she had ample time to heal. That’s another success story in the books. Mary is now back in school and living a normal life.
