CASE STUDIES

The young woman who experienced Gender Based Violence

Sarah was born in 1989 Dec; they were only 2 children for the family of Mr and Mrs Daniel Shirime in Kilimanjaro Rombo District.

She started her primary education in 1995 at the same district Rombo Walku Primary School. After  she has completed std vii, was no body to take care of her neither interested to send her to secondary school as by the time she completed  class vii her mother had already passed away and the father had no any source of income.

She started working as a house keeper at one house to another house after descending that her father will not be able to support her for her secondary education and other expenses.

At the first time glance she was given the light duties to perform according to the age. After one year without given the opportunity to attend secondary education she decided to ask her boss about her to be taken to school as how it was they are agreements, when she asked, her boss said, “Do you think I have money to take you to school while your own father failed to do so?    I don’t have any money to lose”.

She used to wake up at around 4:00 every morning and she was supported to go to bed at 1:00 at the mid night. Sarah was supposed to perform all duties at home alone without any assistant from other family members, Prepare breakfast for the children, escorting them to their schools, it was very tiresome.

Working without any payment as her boss insisted that at that age she did not need to have any amount of money. She worked there for one and half year. She tolerated the insults, mistreatment and all form of human rights abuse. No any medical care and no any kind of humanity in whatever and whinier she tried to perform.

There was one boy who as well worked at the same house as farm attend cut, He witnessed whatever was going on and feet that the only way to save her was to marry her. Thought that the only way to escape from that Satanist situation was to marry that boy and walk out of the prison that was a time when Sarah faced the phenomena of early marriage at early age of 14 (2003)

Sarah call this as forced marriage as she was forced to marry the boy purposely to get out of the prison after being saved as a slave in that house for more than one and half year without getting any payment rather good treatment from her boss.

Sarah become pregnant at the age of 14 years, the boy also was supposed to terminate the work at that house as well; the boy was at the age 16 years.

By the age 14 Sarah was not aware of any maternal issues, she did not even attend a single clinic session, No money as the boy was as well not employed anywhere. In most of the days they were not able to get even food to eat.

She delivered her baby at home with the help from one of her neighbor. No clinic card, no any advice from the health clinical centre.

The life at her only single room was very terrible; in most cases they faced a very difficult life. Despite the difficult life she delivered the 2^nd kids born in 2007. Both of her children are girls. The second was born premature and with a very low weight because Sarah was not able again to attend also clinic and life situation was still the same. At that particular time her husband run away. Sarah was leaved alone with two children and from that time her husband did not come back at home.

The life situation became more worsened, Sarah had to try all alternatives, and she started to pass again to the houses finding a work of cleaning houses or even toilets just to get a single cent for her and her children to purchase of food.

The rented room that she was leaving with her husband and her children was given to her in free of charge after her economic situation to become more worth. In some cases her neighbors supported her to get food and other basic needs for her and her children.

Up to this moment she has worked to more than seven people’s houses, only one employer showed tenderness love, she was working at Kivulini Women’s Rights Organization called Hellena.

Hellena paid Sarah a good payment where by Sarah managed to hire a simple room that she is up to now living with her 2 children.

Working at Hellena’s place Sarah had the opportunity to exposure to women and girls rights organizations like Kivulini, Wote Sawa and Lasts joined Hakizetu Women and Girls Rights Organization, an Organization that is working in preventing young women and girls from VAW and support survivors of the violation against women.

Under Hakizetu Sarah got opportunity to attend different sessions which stimulated her understanding on women and girls human rights. Sarah was able to attend Tailoring training program which aims in empowering young women survivor of VAW economically. This Opportunity enables Sarah to acquire new knowledge of clothes making.

This is a situation that many young mothers and girls are facing in many part of Africa especial in the areas that Hakizetu is working under. Hakizetu research comes out with a data that more than 23% of girls fewer than 18 years are survivors of early pregnancy and marriage in Mwanza Region Tanzania East Africa, The situation faced Hakizetu to find out the way to sort out the phenomena which seems to be more common day after day.

Sarah is one of many survivors of the violation against women that were been always coming to Hakizetu office to seek for financial and material support in order to run their lives, Only in the year 2013 Hakizetu was received more than 200 young women survivors of the violation who wanted to be supported economically and also to be supported to go back to schools. Many of them were chased away from school soon after being affected with the phenomena of early marriage

                                    

The situation makes Hakizetu to come out with different programs with the aims of supporting survivors of the violation in Mwanza and later on in African at large, Among the program that Hakizetu come out with is establishing the entrepreneurship training of tailoring training where survivors where corrected together and been trained on how to make clothes and garments in order to improve their economic situation.

Hakizetu also have been conducting different awareness raising campaign with the aims of changing social altitude and practice that generate to the violation against women