Catherine Wangare, 30, has waived her right to anonymity after being raped, impregnated and infected with HIV, to encourage victims of sexual abuse to come forward and get help. She narrated the harrowing ordeal meted out on her at the age of 15, and how she has overcome it to help other victims come out of the shell of shame and pursue justice.
Wangare is among a group of 100 women who are part of ActionAid-funded Wangu Kanja Foundation that rescues rape victims and offers them emotional counselling and legal help to bring the sexual offenders to book.
But at first, things were not easy for Wangare who on one fateful evening in Mukuru Kayaba slums, was dragged into a house by a neighbour and defiled. She recalls how a few weeks after the ordeal, her health began to deteriorate until one day she fell terribly ill and was taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital. “I thought I had malaria or typhoid.
The doctors examined me and revealed that I was pregnant and was also HIV positive,” she says. Doctors said she would have to keep the baby to save her life because of her weak immunity. Wangare says she was caught up in a dilemma as she was shrouded in fear, confusion and pain.
After being discharged, she disclosed to her brother, who was hosting her, what the doctors said. Her brother was unable to help her and an elderly woman took Wangare and offered to support her through the pregnancy until she delivered.
The turning point for Wangare’s life was when her baby was born. The innocent look on her baby’s face inflamed her spirit to live on. To Wangare, her daughter now 15, and in Form One, was once the source of her pain but has turned to be the oasis of her hope and strength.
“When doctors handed me my baby, it was one of the most amazing moments in life,” she says.“I love my daughter and she adores me. A child is beautiful and deserves a chance in life no matter the circumstance under which she came into the world.” She says her child (name withheld) who is also HIV positive, understands her condition and takes her drugs religiously.
Wangare says at 23, she met the love of her life and despite knowing her status, he married her and they now have two children. “Before we got married, we sought advice from doctors who enlightened us on how to live as a HIV discordant couple,” she says.
For Wangare, a casual labourer, she is keen on seeing rape victims healing and moving on with their lives saying holding on to the pain creates feelings of hopelessness.
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