So it is established that in Africa approximately 1 in every 5 teenage girl and one in every 20 teenage boy suffers or has suffered sexual abuse. Below is a poem expressions the travails of one of such victims..

Masked
chaos of cascading hormones,
Can't help it no more.
The urge , yeah that libido
Ripping off my flesh.

I wasn't always like this you know,
I mean, stripped off decency.
Just that mom's hubby couldn't help the urge either,
Am sure that explains why i became a bait.

Mom called me a whore,
She blames me for having my father's child.
But what could a 13yr old do?
Well, she couldn't bear the shame so
uncle kunle's idea of helping her kill my
seed became the best option.

Uncle kunle couldn't contain his libido
too, that's why he'd thrust his evil inside
of me right after my abortion.
What a shame.

Who would blame me for being promiscuous?
Am my father's daughter afterall.

Oh, the pain, hurt, scars, hate....
I really do need a change of identity
Coz my childhood dreams doesn't
match the face anymore.

C'mon love is an illusion
and if it were real, it sure wasn't meant for me..
Jeez! I couldn't even get a bit from my parents,
So who would blame me?

I hide behind the mask
Hoping that someday the entire male race will be erased
and sensible ones would be born.
Who would blame me?

But for now,
I wouldn't let these counter gender
See the chattered person behind the veil..
They really don't know how i wanna see them pay for snatching away my future.
I am masked.

This poetry literally tells the story of the sufferings of these young ones.. The abuse creates a problem for the society such that as expressed by the writer, the I'd of love is distorted in their minds. They begin to see all men as scum for the ladies or all women as whores for the guys.
They hate, they live abnormally and they make the society generally a bad place.

What can be done?

Honestly the efforts by NGOs to curb this malaise is encouraging but they are only limited to reports reaching them.

• Firstly i think all parents have to teach their kids from an early age about their sex organs and let them know that they are private and as such shouldn't allow one Uncle or aunty or any adult or peer access to these organs.
• Secondly, parents should teach their kids to talk about anything and everything that concerns them. Teach their kids to be able to express themselves and give their kids an avenue to express themselves by being friends with these little ones.
• There's more to say but lastly, parents should be more observant about their kids, study their new or changing behaviors and use the best parenting style possible per kid to raise their kids.

As citizens, report any suspicious child abuser, do not encourage habits in kids that will lead to the loss of their self esteem and thus lead to suffering such abuses.
Image credits 1, 2