A barber and sexual abuse survivor identified as Amidu has recounted his traumatic experience of being sexually assaulted by a female caretaker when he was a young boy aged 11.

Speaking to TV3 following the release of the station's feature, “When Boys Cry”, Amidu recounted how, at the age of 11, his mother would leave him with a female neighbour who took care of him while she went to the market for business.

He explained that the neighbour would take the food his mother left for him and eat it herself. When he cried from hunger, she would take him to her room and sexually abuse him.

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“I was in my, let's say, 10 to 11 years. So my mom used to go to market. So when she's going, she would take me to one sister beside our house. When she left, the food that she left me, the sister would take all the food. So when I'm hungry, she would be like, there is no food. So I would be crying. So she'd take me to her room, naked myself and naked her. And then put me on top of her,” he recalled.

Amidu said that, being very young at the time, he did not understand what was happening, and the assaults continued consistently for about a month.

“So I didn't know what was going on. It continues like that for like a month,” he said.

He noted that the abuse stopped after another neighbour unexpectedly entered the room one day and questioned the woman why she was naked infront of him.

“So one day we're inside the room and one sister came in. Like, why are you naked and in front of this child? And she said ‘oh I just finished bathing.’ And then, since then, she stopped,” he stated.

Amidu added that the traumatic experience has stayed with him for nearly two decades, making it difficult to move on.

“Since then, it has been part of me. I try to forget about it, but it's hard for me to forget. It’s been part of me for about, let's say, 18 to 20 years now,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, noted some interventions by her ministry to empower boys and promote healthier concepts of masculinity.

“Not too long from now, we will be having a whole conference on positive masculinity and we are also working with some few boys groups to let them understand that bullying does not make you feel superior of a man,” she said.

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