Windhoek rape survivor reflects on assault, motherhood challenges

Being raped at the age of 14 did not only change the course of Manela Gaeses’ life, but also denied her the opportunity to finish school.

Gaeses (22), now a single mother of three children aged seven, six and three months, was raped by a former schoolmate in a riverbed while walking home from her friend’s birthday celebration in Windhoek in 2018.

Sharing her experience during a community reflection and connection session held under the One Economy Foundation’s effective parenting support group initiative in Windhoek on Saturday, Gaeses said since then, her life changed completely.

“Seven months after I was raped, I found out I was pregnant. I could not abort the baby because it was already seven months,” she said.

“I became a single mother at 14 and because of that, I was never able to finish school,” she said.