I have two(2) female friends who've been raped before. When statistics say rape victims often know the perpetrator, it isn't a lie. Both of my friends were raped by people they knew, people their parents knew, and people everyone won't think of.

One who is in her final year at the university now was raped by her uncle, her mother's senior brother. She wasn't able to tell her parents or anyone else who could take action and she's lived with that ever since. She dislike and distrust all men now. The second one was raped by her teacher. She also couldn't tell anyone about it. Whenever a man becomes over friendly, she pushes him away, because she doesn't want anyone to be too close.

I decided to check on some statistics and what I found out baffled me. An average of three (3) children are defiled daily as at the year 2017. That is over 1,000 children just in 2017. Assuming the number remains the same for the year 2018, that is 2,000 children who will grow up defiled. In 2017, 1,685 cases of sexual abuse of children were recorded and they excluded rape. Even still, Human Rights Advocates believe these numbers could be much higher because a lot of this cases go unreported (as in the case of my friends).

Who is there to protect the young ones? Do we need new laws? I don't think so. We already have the laws. Is it education? It could be, but most of this girls go to school too. So what really needs to be done? I ask you all to to share your thoughts so maybe I might understand what things a bit. Is it possible for you and I to do something to help protect children and even adults from abuse? What do you think we can do to help protect people from abuse.

Be careful who you trust. Know your child and know when anything changes. Don't take things lightly when you see anything unusual. Both of my friends were with their parents and yet, nobody noticed anything. They had to live with this trauma with nobody to help them through. Let's all stop taking advantages of children. Allow people to play with your children, but be a bit protective. Don't let people become too familiar with your children. Boys can be defiled, not only girls, so don't leave your male children out too.