Every day when I went to bed my boss would send a dog to my door.

I eventually healed but was left with these scars on my face and all over my body. After two years working there, I was then moved closer to the house and was given better treatment. I was so confused but didn’t ask anything but appreciated what I was given.

I was on a warm ghetto, new second hand double bed with new blankets. It was a house and the food was fresh all the time. I was treated like a human being. And such was done by his wife on his absence. And when he arrived he changed nothing, but I saw on his face he hated that.

Later that night he came back around midnight. He just pushed the door and entered. He told me that he was going to give me a present. He stripped me naked and told me if I screamed he would let the dogs in. I had no choice but to let him.

It was my first time sleeping with a man. There was so much blood and it was the most painful experience ever. The pain continued for a day or two and the second time he sent his 18-year-old son to sleep with me. They took turns, this time I was already used to it and had no problem.

I eventually got pregnant without knowing that I was pregnant. His wife noticed me but little did she know that her son and husband were behind it. I lost the baby. He hired the doctor to do an abortion. He refused at first but eventually he did it and I almost died. That caused a fight between my boss and his son, and the wife overheard the arguments and I was fired. I was chased out with nothing except a few of my clothes and the HIV virus they infected me with.

I got a hike from a truck driver who was going to King Williams Town. I was from Pedi and asked him to drop me halfway. A few minutes later the driver stopped in a forest. It was so dark with only trees around and he asked me to pay up. I had no money and he knew it. He started to touch me and from there I knew what he wanted. I slept with him and we continued with the trip.

I finally arrived home after fifteen years, only to find out that my house was not home anymore, my mother had died during the regime and my father was nowhere to be found.

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Tell us: Why did people treat their domestic workers like this?