‘Sinigurisha! (You are not for sale!)’: exploring the relationship between access to school, school fees, and sexual abuse in Rwanda

In Rwanda, many victims do not report rape to the police because the perpetrators financially support their basic living needs and/or education. Victims who are impregnated by their perpetrators are even more financially dependent on them, both because of the additional expense of raising a child and because the possibilities of returning to school and increasing job prospects are more limited. Over the course of February-September 2011, qualitative fieldwork in the form of in-depth interviews was conducted in two Eastern Province rural sectors and in Kigali. Interviewees included victims of sexual abuse who were impregnated by their abusers, family members of victims, and NGO workers. In addition, stories written by youth concerning sexual abuse present themes of both financial dependency and forgiveness.