ETHIOPIA: Selam Tesfaye, Ethiopia, 'My own father gave me HIV'

Photo: UNICEF

Ethiopia_06.jpg (178.44 KiB) Viewed 520 times

I spoke boldly to the police about what my father didaddis ababa, 13 August 2007 (PlusNews) - Selam Tesfaye* was born and raised in Mekele, northern Ethiopia. At the age of 13 she was raped by her father, who also infected her with HIV. This is her story.

"When my parents divorced I was very little and I had to stay with my mother and my two sisters. We were living a good life until my mother died and we had to move to our aunt's house. My father then came to my aunt and said we should all move back with him. That was when my life turned upside down.

"One night I had a stomach-ache and went to my father for help. He gave me an injection, saying that it would relive the pain. Shortly afterwards I felt dizzy and become unconscious. The next day I woke up very sick and when I tried to go to the bathroom to urinate I discovered that I had been raped.

"My father also openly admitted that he raped me. I ran away from home and went back to my aunt, but I was too shy and ashamed to tell her what my father had done to me. She said I should go back to my father because she was worried that he would accuse her of abduction.

"I was forced to go back to my father's house, and later found out that my older sister has been continuously raped by my father and had even aborted three times.

"That was when I decided to break this cycle of abuse in our family and spoke boldly to the police about what my father did. He was put in prison for a brief period and released on bail.

"After he was released, news of his HIV status reached me, but I could not confirm the story as I had moved in with my aunt again. I was not aware of my own HIV status until I had a disagreement with my cousin and she said that I had AIDS. I was devastated, because even if I was aware that my father had the virus, I did not know that he had given it to me.

"After I confirmed I had the virus, I isolated myself from the family and friends. My aunt gave me a separate plate to use for food; nobody even touched the food I ate or the clothes I wore for fear of the virus. My aunt accused me of promiscuity, as if I slept around to get the disease.

"The conflict at home worsened when I went on national television and told my story about the virus, to teach young people. My aunt became violent because I had not consulted her about my decision in advance; I left her house and started living alone.

"Currently, an NGO that is helping people with HIV is providing me with financial and emotional support. I am now at peace with myself and with the virus; I have come into contact with male and female friends who are kind and supportive."

I have never heard something like this. Is it normal in Tigray society to have intercourse with their children? Can any one explain?

Ethiopia has become to the Arab world what Thailand is to European tourists. Prostitution in Ethiopia has increased incredibly in recent years. In one section of Addis Ababa, some 130,000 girls support themselves by selling their bodies. Most of them are Tigryans origin and under eighteen, and many even under fourteen. In this probing documentary, we meet the victims, girls that have been orphaned, or thrown out by their family, or are hoping to find a better life. They are compelled to turn to prostitution to survive. The young ones, like nine-year-old LeteBerhan Geremeskel, don't even earn enough money to buy food. The older ones earn more, about $2 a night, but yearn to work the luxury hotels as high-class prostitutes. Virtually all the girls are HIV positive. Condoms are seldom used, even though they are distributed free in many places. Customers, believing the youngest girls are HIV-free, seek them out, which in turn keeps lowering the age of girls becoming HIV-infected. Some attempts by agencies are being made to help these girls, but they face heavy odds." i guess due to inflation they cost $2.10 now. I belive for 9 years old?? thats is disgusting and only monkeys do this and only monkeys take advantage,of poor Tigryans.

abyssinia, did you father fu***ked you in the [deleted], the same way this poor Tigryan fo**cked. Is it some kind of cultural thing to suckkk your Tigryan dadi coca? educate us please.


Selam Tesfaye* was born and raised in Mekele, northern Ethiopia. At the age of 13 she was raped by her father, who also infected her with HIV. This is her story.

"When my parents divorced I was very little and I had to stay with my mother and my two sisters. We were living a good life until my mother died and we had to move to our aunt's house. My father then came to my aunt and said we should all move back with him. That was when my life turned upside down.

"One night I had a stomach-ache and went to my father for help. He gave me an injection, saying that it would relive the pain. Shortly afterwards I felt dizzy and become unconscious. The next day I woke up very sick and when I tried to go to the bathroom to urinate I discovered that I had been raped.

"My father also openly admitted that he raped me. I ran away from home and went back to my aunt, but I was too shy and ashamed to tell her what my father had done to me. She said I should go back to my father because she was worried that he would accuse her of abduction.

"I was forced to go back to my father's house, and later found out that my older sister has been continuously raped by my father and had even aborted three times.

"That was when I decided to break this cycle of abuse in our family and spoke boldly to the police about what my father did. He was put in prison for a brief period and released on bail.

"After he was released, news of his HIV status reached me, but I could not confirm the story as I had moved in with my aunt again. I was not aware of my own HIV status until I had a disagreement with my cousin and she said that I had AIDS. I was devastated, because even if I was aware that my father had the virus, I did not know that he had given it to me.

"After I confirmed I had the virus, I isolated myself from the family and friends. My aunt gave me a separate plate to use for food; nobody even touched the food I ate or the clothes I wore for fear of the virus. My aunt accused me of promiscuity, as if I slept around to get the disease.

"The conflict at home worsened when I went on national television and told my story about the virus, to teach young people. My aunt became violent because I had not consulted her about my decision in advance; I left her house and started living alone.

"Currently, an NGO that is helping people with HIV is providing me with financial and emotional support. I am now at peace with myself and with the virus; I have come into contact with male and female friends who are kind and supportive."