Loretta Mekgwe Shares Her Tragic Experience

Botswana Youth
3 Min Read

Often people, even the police officials believe that for a lady to be sexually violated, it has a lot to do with what they were wearing at the moment. That is not and has never been the case. Earlier this week, a lady was harassed at  the bus rank for apparently dressing inappropriately by people who do not even know her story.

The incident has since sparked controversy and got some people to stand up and keep fighting for women’s rights and a Facebook ‘ Right To Wear What I Want’ has been formed to take the issue further and make sure women are free to do whatever they want.

Actress and radio personality Loretta Mekgwe has come out to share her ordeal and add that being violated has absolutely nothing to do with one’s outfit.

“I saw a glimpse of that video ka phoso lastnight, ngwana ole o apere. I didn’t want to watch it because I knew I wasn’t ready.. From the bit that I saw I couldn’t sleep, it reminded me of my painful busrank memories. There isn’t a single time that I’ve been there without a man hauling insults, trying to get some or just being a nuisance. Grown men these are..

As for the ladies who keep saying ‘ngwana wa mosetsana o rutwa go apara ene o ne a ya kae,’ what a bunch of losers you are, le tshwana hela le magwane ao; until it happens to you or someone close.. Now let me tell you my story. (2003, 17yrs at the time) I was crossing over from tlokweng route 2 to catch a block 9 combi, some guy tried to stop me but I kept walking. All of a sudden he’s grabbing me by my waist asking me to slow down, pressing a sharp object into my skin. He threatened to kill me if I dare scream.. I was dragged to the then bushy cbd. To cut it short, that Sunday afternoon I was raped. You know what I was wearing? Trackpants and a T-shirt ?

Bo Mma le Bo Rra we are not safe. I would have loved to be a part of the march this Thursday (someone please comment with a link) but I will be working out of town. If you are around please join in with mini skirts.”

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