BY: Deborah Nakatudde —
Jackie, a ten-year-old girl from Wakiso district, was in her final year of primary school and used to walk early in the morning to the village where her school was located.
One morning, a man riding a motorcycle offered to give her a lift. She accepted the offer since the man came from the same village. She knew about him. On the way, the man stopped the motorcycle and pulled her off to the nearby bush where he raped her. The man threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
Eventually, Jackie gathered the courage to tell her mother after the perpetrator moved to another village. Jackie is one of many children who fall victim to sexual abuse from the people living around them—family, neighbours, teachers. Jackie was able to tell her mother about her abuse. Many are not.