I was 12 when my father raped me

Teen narrates life of regret, pain and a wish to die

By Rosalia David

JUST seven years ago, after taking a few shots from a blended whiskey, Whitehorse, that she got from her father, Kimberly Daniels* woke up not from a nightmare but into a gender-based violence nightmare.

On that terrible morning, while suffering from a terrible headache Daniels vividly remembered how her own father had taken advantage of her in her drunken stupor and had raped her during the night.

Daniels was only 12 years old at that time.

“It all started at my uncle’s funeral …

long back if I am not mistaken. We were walking in the park and he started kissing me and saying I looked like my mother and that is when he told me that I had to visit him at his place over the holiday,” Daniels now 19 years of age, narrated to Confidente.

Daniels, whose mother died when she was two years old, lived with her aunt and would often visit her father during the holidays; she would also enjoy spending the holidays with her two younger siblings from her father’s side.

With teary eyes, she explained how she thought that she was going to have a lovely holiday with her siblings and father that December, unaware that would be the holiday that would drastically change her life forever and end up being an experience that has mentally affected her for years.

When Confidente interviewed her, she was dressed in a long sleeved blouse to cover the deep cuts that are on her wrist.

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