I was in grade 8, so like around 13 years-old
The incident took place in the microbus one morning.
A woman who was sitting next to me and speaking on the phone,
put a hand on my leg and started feeling me up.
I looked at her but she was still on the phone,
All I can remember is that I stiffened and couldn’t move, and I started sweating what felt like cold sweat
I was scared and I didn’t understand what was going on.

I got off and I didn’t tell my parents because I didn’t know how to explain what had just happened.
So I just told my friends who made fun of me, and told me that this is something only boys do to girls.
I was even more shocked, and for a while I felt that I was missing something, but I didn’t know who or how to ask.

Luckily, time and the people I knew afterwards helped me grow and understand what happened to me and heal from its impact on me.
I still tell my story after all these years for any child who might experience something like that, or an even worse violation, in silence without having anyone’s support.
Now I am a grown man in our society, who’s well-built and is able to defend himself,
But back then I was just a boy lost between fear and confusion.