She was a quite girl and was always alone; she read novels and didn’t have any friends. She was also secretive and shy. The only friends she had were her school friends but she never shared anything with them. Her parents were proud of her, because she was very smart. This is how it all began.

It was 2010 when she met a guy by the name of Jackie. Of course like any other guy, Jackie was good-looking – he came to her and told her that he loved her. She blushed as she was speechless, because she didn’t know what love was or how it felt to be loved. She was 13-years-old, what did she know about love? Nothing. Yet, she accepted Jackie’s advances towards her. She was naïve, she thought that they were too young to have sex and that he wouldn’t expect that of her.

As time went by, she asked Jackie what his age was; he told her that he was 18-years-old.

After that, their relationship became a bit more serious. He invited her over to his home to watch a movie, she went. When she arrived, he invited her in then they both sat on the couch. In the midst of conversation he kissed her; then he started touching her. She felt uncomfortable and pushed his hand away, but he kept shoving his hand in her private parts. It was painful. She had never experienced anything like that before.

When Jackie started undressing himself, she told him to stop but he refused. She tried running for the door, but it was locked. She wanted to scream, but she was scared. It all happened in that room, she cried throughout the entire ordeal. She knew nothing about sex or the consequences of doing it without any protection. He left her bleeding and told her to leave the moment he was done. She cried and had to bear the discomfort of it the entire way home. Her pants had blood stains on them and she hoped that no one along the road had noticed.

She realised that Jackie had stolen her virginity, which made her angry and depressed.

She wanted to know why he had done what he did. She had no idea if she was pregnant or not but she confronted Jackie. He told her to find out and if she was, that she had to have an abortion. She kept to herself; she was always angry or sad. She started cutting herself, because it made her feel better. She took a pregnancy test and the result was positive, she was pregnant.

She was thirteen-years-old and pregnant. At the thought of becoming a mother, she struggled with depression. She tried to fight it but she felt alone. Her parents disowned her and stopped supporting her. That’s when her life became a nightmare, she was all alone. Jackie was gone, he wanted her to have an abortion, but she didn’t go through with it.

Later she found out the truth that Jackie was 22-years-old, that he lied to her and impregnated her. In 2011 the girl gave birth to a cute baby boy and named him Kwapi. She gave that baby all the love she had. Despite all the challenges she faced, she still managed to become a strong young lady and a proud teen mom. No matter people’s judgements and suicidal thoughts, she knew that she had a future ahead of her and dreams to achieve. She also knew that it was important to bring her child into this world and to be a mother.

I hope my story will help and that others who may find themselves in a similar learn from it. If you are a teen mom, be strong, don’t let people bring you down; it’s not a sin to be a young a mom. I know some of you might judge me, it’s OK. I said yes, even though I knew nothing about love and sex. I’m happy that he taught me a lesson that I will never forget.

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Tell us: Jackie got off unpunished for rape, what would you have done in her shoes?