Survivor Stories

Dear Reader, Welcome to the WARIF Survivor Stories Series, a monthly feature, where stories of survivors of rape and sexual violence are shared to motivate and encourage survivors to speak their truth without the fear of judgment or stigmatization and to educate the public on the sheer magnitude of this problem in our society.  The Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) is a non-profit organization set up in response to the extremely high incidence of rape, sexual violence, and human trafficking...

Dear Reader, Welcome to the WARIF Survivor Stories Series. A monthly feature, where stories of survivors of rape and sexual violence are shared to motivate and encourage other survivors to speak their truth without the fear of judgment or stigmatization and to educate the public on the sheer magnitude of this problem in our society. The Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) is a non-profit organization set up in response to the extremely high incidence of rape, sexual violence, and human...

Dear Reader, Welcome to the WARIF Survivor Stories Series. A monthly feature, where stories of survivors of rape and sexual violence are shared to motivate and encourage other survivors to speak their truth without the fear of judgment or stigmatization and to educate the public on the sheer magnitude of this problem in our society.  The Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF) is a non-profit organization set up in response to the extremely high incidence of rape, sexual violence, and human...

This is Nonso’s Story: “At 35 years old, I am glad to be strong enough to share my story. I come from a family of four, with an older sister and very busy parents. You know, money needs to be made. Considering their tight schedules, my mother made sure we always had a nanny. Aunt Lillian is one I could never forget, she took care of my sister and I from birth but when I turned 6, she had to leave....

This is Joy’s Story… My name is Joy and my parents were very excited to give me that name but I should really be called sorrow. I had read and heard about many sexual assault cases but I never paid too much attention to them. I was one of those girls who would brag that I was too smart to be raped. I felt that the girls who got abused were too vulnerable or not sharp enough. Little did I know...

This is Tolani’s Story: We started out as a happy family, it was me, my dad and my mom. It was perfect, until it wasn’t, until he threw us out. I couldn’t understand why – I still don’t know what happened till today but like my mom always says “God knows best” We were on our own for a while till my mom met Mr Francis, a relatively nice guy who showered her with gifts and made all sorts of promises for...

This is Carol’s story: “My name is Carol and I am 16 years old. I am in JSS3 and I am getting ready for my Junior WAEC examinations. I am very scared because I had to repeat this class, my best friend has told me not to worry but anytime I see some mathematics questions I start to shiver… My fear for mathematics didn’t start today, I never liked it – in fact I can say I hated it. I didn’t just...

This is Nkem’s story: “My father was a very violent man, from as far as I can remember he used to hit my mother. Sometimes for no reason at all, he would just come home screaming and we would run into our rooms. He would always get drunk, whenever he lost a bet, whenever his favorite club Arsenal lost a match and even when it was just a bad day at work. So you can imagine that he came home screaming...

Dear Reader, Welcome to the WARIF Survivor Stories Series, a monthly feature, where stories of survivors of rape and sexual violence will be shared to motivate and encourage survivors to speak their truth without the fear of judgement or stigmatization and to educate the public on the sheer magnitude of this problem in our society. This series was launched in response to the positive feedback received by me from survivors following my  cover interview in This Day Style Magazine on the...