Quantifying Statistics in the Society: Dreams Snatched from a Girl

Once, when I went out with my family, my aunt asked me this question: What do you exactly do?

I smiled at her and joke around, "I tail bad guys."

Seeing her face frozen, I began a serious tone.

"I help young girls to dream a good life. I empower women to raise their voice. In other words, I work for these people to have a better future."

This may sound dramatic, but the scenario is crystal clear. What do I mean by this? Let me take you to a journey of a young girl whom I met and talked in person.

"This drawing tells a story..."

The Scene

Ever since I began my journey as a Project Nurse and a Project Coordinator, it opened a nano-like lens in my life. I saw the dark areas of the society which I thought were from a writer's imagination. My usual scene is that of dilapidated houses, and suffocating alleyways. I can see make-shift houses occupied by more than 5 family members. Not to mention, the rotten smell of garbage overflowing in the nearby drainage. Witnessing a scenario like this is a conclusion that movies are from real-life events.

"My ordinary scene"

The Character

I had a chance to mingle with the participants right after our learning session. Among the rest of the girls, I saw a rather energetic girl in pink whose aura was quite different. She was speaking to me in English but her eyes caught my attention. I smiled at her and began engaging her into a conversation. Somehow, she managed to answer me and even joke around, but then, something piqued my curiosity.

She began to say: I want to become a singer. I want to perform in church as a singer. I want to live in a big house where I didn't have to share my room with the rest of my family. I want to have a family who is always around. They will love me and support my dreams.

I allowed her to talk more, and when the session resumed in the afternoon, I saw her drawing what she told me. I felt the longing of a family. I felt her longing for love.

The Plot

Later on, I heard the painful reality.

At 12 years old, the girl was a victim of rape and sexual abuse. At the same year, she got pregnant and had a miscarriage. The following year, she faced molestation by a relative perpetrator.

At 14, she is an OSEC (Online Sexually-Exploited Child/Children).

I asked her again in the afternoon why she wanted to speak English. In a casual manner, she replied to me.

"I am practicing English because my foreign boyfriend will meet me this year."

That was the start of another conversation until we ended the learning session.

My heart felt heavy.

She is one of the many children the society failed to protect, and the cases are rising in this pandemic.

Since March, here are the first hand data I gathered:

1. 15 out 20 young women are single mothers.

2. 7 out 10 male youths had STI experience.

3. The youngest male I interviewed had sexual intercourse at the age of 11, and had two children at the age 14.

4. 20 out of 20 females experienced harassment and cyberbullying in the social media.

5. 17 out of 20 children opted to log-in to their social media account every day.

(My list could go on...)

What about our interventions?

Limited.

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