Personal Demons

---

prominent Ghanaian journalist, BBC, columnist and former minister of the government wrote to Elizabeth Ohene recently, she was in need of about their experiences, the sexual abuse of More Than 60 years ago, when she was only seven years old. Here she explains why she decided to go public, after such a long time.

I'm not quite sure, I was thinking, what would be the effect if I went public with the story of my was sexually harassed.

Last Wednesday, I said that the story in the weekly column I write for Ghana, the highest-circulation newspaper, The Daily Graphic.

I Am a 74-year-old woman and I was told it was something that happened 67 years ago.

One of my best Friends - men - to relieve asked why I had chosen myself to the rest of them. The story of how I hear, difficult to read. So, if I have been able to keep it to me for 67 years, why I was about to say, why I have it To My grave?

warning: This article contains information that some readers may find distressing.

My story

I'm not sure, I wanted to ease public my load on a unsuspecting. I had decided ages ago that I have a responsibility to tell this story, in The Hope of a young girl, suffering somewhere would be protected, what is made.

Maybe I should tell first, And Then I'll try to see if I can explain why I said it.

Back in 1952, I was seven years old happy child living with my grandmother in our village. One Day , A Man , a relationship lived door to door with us, dragged me into his room and abused me.

I have a difficulty with the terminology, to describe what happened to me. At the time, I can't say that I knew what he had done, I had no name for what he had done, I didn't even have a name for the part of my body that had been injured.

All I know is that he pushed his rough Finger and cracked finger nails in my vagina.

I don't remember what, if anything, what he said, it is the overwhelming smell of his body, and his rough fingers and cracked nails that will remain with me until today, 67 years after The Event .

Today, I what he did, And One of the frustrations that I have, is that social norms allow that to describe me, what exactly happened, and I'm reduced to saying I was dirty or sexually harassed.

" My grandmother nursed me back to health, at least physical health. I didn't explain to her what had happened. The Morning after The Event , if you gave me a bath, she noticed, it was vagina pus from my and I decided that I had an infection.

she asked me if something was to happen to fix it simply and bring me back to health. It could well be that you imagine something undesirable might be happening to her favorite granddaughter.

years later, when I was growing up and that he tried to make sense of The Incident , the conclusion I came to was. It was the easier scenario.

the next thing that happened when I was 11. I was raped, it was intense and it was the same man.

There is, I have it.

I can't say that I understood the second incident better, but it was more of a burden, and I think I was in danger, what I would now call the Psychological Trauma .

But I suppose it is fair to say that I survived, and I believe I was not damaged irrevocably by these experiences.

I made what is considered a success in My Life as a journalist, writer and civil servant. I Am 74 years old and if I should die today, in the Ghanaian scheme of things, my obituary would be, entitled Celebration of life, or Call to Glory.

In other words, it would be conceivable that I led a full life.

So, I've been asked, why bring it up now, this is an unpleasant and dirty topic?

I have the feeling that it is a scandalous acceptance of the sexual abuse of children in our society, as a part of life. Little girls are particularly At Risk from the adult men. It is not a topic to talk about the we're ready.

you may also be interested in:

Recently, there were attempts to combat the phenomenon, but it is a hard task. If a child is defiled, and some brave person dares to report The Matter to The Police , the person comes under a lot of pressure from The Police to withdraw the case, for it "to be settled at home".

If you continue to try, the child molester followed, you run The Risk of exclusion in The Family . So very few of these cases will come to court or be prosecuted successfully.

I'm afraid that other seven-year-olds and even three year olds are exposed to what I experienced for so long.

indignation at gay people, but not the child think molesters

I, that this situation will continue, unless we are willing to talk about these things. It is speaking with great restraint about sex in General, unless there is express outrage over homosexuality.

Many Ghanaians are devout Christians who believe that homosexuality seems to go against The Bible

There is a consensus across the Board, the Ghanaians do not want to tolerate LGBTQ people in their society. A found that only 3% of the population say that homosexuality should be accepted, there is a strong resistance to admitting the existence of LGBTQ people in our society.

The religious community is, the one is, and because of the suspicion that the sexual education in the schools against our culture and "the un seems to be-Ghanaian", but the attempt, the introduction of homosexuality in our society through the back door.

The Land was recently a Mass Hysteria thrown in than a story, it is an attempt to imagine something was called Comprehensive Sex Education in the curricula of the schools. It took a statement from The President ruled out the intention to introduce, to calm, such a thing the things.

But it is hard to lift, such passions about the abuse in heterosexual relationships, especially where The Balance of power is weighted against The Female .

If I helped anyone, I will humblyso far my story is overwhelming. Everyone is uncomfortable with the story. It is an unpleasant story, and say, it is uncomfortable and I'm not surprised if it is uncomfortable.

Some have said I'm brave, go public with the story. It took me 67 years to tell the courage, the history, and so I'm not sure about The Bravery bit.

Some have said that it is unfair to pour, to such filth in The Public space. I have no comment.

Many people, especially women, thanked me, and said, you have the courage, with their own Personal Demons . I Am humbled.

If this leads to more openness in talking about sexual practices and maybe to equip and empower the children to deal with abuse, I'll go To My grave a happy woman.

the victims of abuse in Ghana can be directly to the Ministry of Gender, children and Social protection (MoGCSP) can be reached by toll-free phone numbers 0800 800 800 or 0800 900 900. SMS messages can be sent on a free short-code 8020 on all mobile networks.

More of Elizabeth Ohene:

sexual violence, ghana

Source of news: bbc.com