Young Life in Freetown | The dark side of young life

Over the past month, numerous reports of sexual assaults have rocked the world. People in Freetown are not immune. Here are a few real-life stories from young men and women in Freetown.

"I was 12 when I moved into my uncle's house and I still remember how his wife assaulted me," said twenty-two-year-old Samson Jalloh. “After every shower, when my uncle was out, she'd ask me to apply gel on her back. That's how it continued until one day she started sneaking into my room, demanding I take off my pants and climb on top of her. I knew it was wrong, and that she was my uncle's wife. One day, I decided to tell my uncle because I couldn't take it anymore. My uncle didn't believe me at first but a week later he caught his wife seducing me in the courtyard when he came home one afternoon. He was very pissed and he divorced her.”

Seray Khan, a 24-year old woman, said that in high school one of her teachers repeatedly harassed her.

"When it was time to go home, my math teacher would send me a text and ask me to meet him in his office. He'd say things unrelated to school. Sometimes, he would touch my breasts if no one was looking. I was afraid to report him because he threatened to fail me, if I did. I later told my best friend and she advised me to keep records of all his calls and text messages. One day, we reported him to the principal revealing all evidence and he was fired, after an investigation was carried out. He made my days at lower high school very surreal."

Nineteen-year-old Sheku Turay lost his virginity when he was about 11 to a woman next door.

"She made a good impression on my parents. She would buy me ice cream all the time and she would invite me over to her place to watch movies. One day she stripped in front of me and asked me to touch her breasts and if I did, she was going to buy me a bike. I did, and she took my virginity because all I wanted was the bike. I finally came to realize she was ruining my life, when an awareness program was run at school, educating young boys and girls about sexual harassment and its effects. I became mad, knowing I was being used so I told her not to ever come near me again. I was too ashamed to discuss it with my friends and family."

When 20-year-old Miatta Lamin was about eight, a male family friend would visit their home often.

"My mom took him as a son, my dad embraced him wholeheartedly, and my sister and I saw him as a brother. One day, my parents were out and I was alone at home with my kid sister. He came that day and entered my room.

"My Mom's out," I said.

'Good. We can play for as much as we want till she returns,' he replied with a big smile on his face, pulling me closer to him.

"He told me to close my eyes and I thought we were going to play hide and seek. He laid on the bed and removed his pants, asked me to sit on his lap but with my eyes closed, I didn't know what he was up to until my hands touched him, and that was when I opened my eyes and saw all of him. I screamed and ran out of the room trembling with fear. When my parents returned, I told them everything and they were so enraged.

"Early this year, I went to see a doctor. On the first day of our appointment, he looked at me like I had just fallen out of the sky. He kept doing that at every appointment. Then he started offering money, which I would always turn down. "It's okay, that's nothing," he would say. "You're a student and you need support. I can be a supportive friend!" A month later, the 60-year-old doctor asked me to visit him at his house. I never went back."

For Young Life in Freetown, I'm Inyilla Borteh Conteh reporting.