Bent But Not Broken

What comes to your mind whenever you hear the term ‘police’? To some the term brings fear or even anxiety, to others they will think of safety while others will think of law and order. But for Agatha
Wanzala, an anti-GBV youth activist in Busia County the term reminds her of an ordeal that almost
ruined her life.
Ms. Wanzala who hails from Bunyala is a survivor of attempted rape by a police officer in Uganda. “I was almost raped in Uganda by a Police Officer but to me, that was a drive to work and talk about GBV,” she said.
She says the act did not drain her emotionally or physically but made her start championing for women’s and girls’ rights in relation to sexual gender-based violence. Personally, this was a turnaround in my life, I can now share my story with anyone and give survivors hope that whatever happened to them is not a loss.
“Bent but not broken, it happened, I accepted, I talk about it and it didn’t kill me but rather it made me a much better person than I was,” remarked Ms. Agatha
After sessions of counseling, the anti-GBV activist says she embraced forgiveness: “I never used to enter a police station because I was scared of the police but after a series of counseling sessions, right now I can talk to the police on GBV issues or even have a random conversation with them, something I never used to do,” she said.
Despite being so passionate about GBV issues, Ms. Wanzala says she faces numerous challenges such as
being undermined by the older survivors who she says, “At times survivors who are much older than me tend to undermine me and look at me like I don’t know what am saying.” However, the survivors have begun to accept her to the extent of referring other survivors to her.
She appealed to fellow survivors to share their stories – “Never hesitate to speak out, always speak out and your story will help someone somewhere.”