Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar were subjected to some of the most horrific human rights abuses last year. Still, hundreds of women and girls who were raped have decided to keep their babies, despite severe social stigma and pressure to abort them.
A CNN report released on Thursday shared the harrowing stories of 10 girls and women, just a handful of the 2,700 or so survivors of sexual violence at refugee camps in Bangladesh, who talked about the abuse they were subjected to, but also how they are finding a reason to live in their soon to be born children.
Fifteen-year-old Rahenah explained how she tried to hide with others in her village when Myanmar soldiers found them and set her house on fire.
“We ran out of the back door,” Rahenah said.
“My brother-in-law died in the fire. Some men were able to escape, others could not. But we girls couldn’t escape. The military caught us and tied us to a tree. They stuck tape over our mouths and stripped us. Then they raped us. Some of the girls lost consciousness and fell to the ground. I was one of them. I was bleeding a lot.”
The teenager, who was married, said that her 19-year-old husband was later killed in the attack.
She decided to keep the baby, saying she is “happy” that she is “going to be a mother.”
“But I am worried too because it is hard to survive here in the camps. I am worried that he won’t get the necessary things he needs in life. I am worried he won’t get an education. If my baby survives, I will try hard to make sure he is educated,” she added.
Nafiza, also 15 years old, said that she can’t…
… Read More
—-
Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News