Suzzy’s teenage years were filled with silence—silence about consent, relationships, and her own body. After surviving abuse and trauma, she finally found healing through a sexual and reproductive health NGO that gave her the knowledge and voice she never had growing up. Now, she’s using her experience to empower other young people with the information she once lacked.English Transcript: I’m Suzzy Bala, and I’m here to share my deeply personal journey. A time I seriously struggled with something was when I was a teenager, you see, I grew up in Kaduna State with wonderfully liberal parents and four other siblings; despite their open-mindedness, they didn’t equip me with the essential knowledge that every teenager needs. I went through my formative years without some valuable information and guidance. When I was 15, I had a male friend, who was 26 and in higher institution, while I was in SS2, I met him, we became friends and he would give me good compliments like, you are smart, you're beautiful, he always buys me gifts and spoils me with money so we came very close. But I didn't have the knowledge about consent and sex and all other thing I needed to know, so one day I went his house for him to help me with my assignment, there was no one at home then I went straight to his room, there was a bed and a couch which I tried to sit, suddenly his face changed and he started to accuse me of sleeping with people, and I wouldn't allow him touch me. I tried to defend myself, but he took out a pressing iron and threatened me with the rope. He made me lie on the bed, and I struggled, but to no avail; he had his way with me. Few weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. Luckily, that pregnancy did not stay, but the psychological and emotional scars remained. After all this, one would expect that my mom or my elder sister would step in, support, or at least talk about STIs and the implications of teenage pregnancy to prevent recurrence but once again, I was left in silence without this information that I badly needed. When I was 23, I met a man, and he showed interest in me and I gave him to him, few months later i was pregnant for him, I thought that relationship was going to go the right way, I didn't know the signs of a bad relationship, a toxic relationship or a relationship that is going nowhere, I lacked those knowledge. That relationship sprang into a cycle of toxicity, marked by physical and psychological abuse. I felt trapped and lost, yet everyone around me assumed I knew what to do while in fact I needed to be spoken to about that issue, all along as a teenager I needed to be taught about consent and bodily autonomy, and also comprehensive sexuality education, i needed all this but I didn't get it from school, parents or elder sister, I needed to know what a healthy relationship look like but I didn't get it. At 26 I was privileged to have an encounter with an NGO that focused on sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence. This was the turning point I desperately needed. I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer with them. Suddenly, I was exposed to a wealth of information that I had craved as a teenager. I learned about my rights, about safe spaces, contraception, menstrual hygiene, abortion, and more importantly, that I was not alone. Today, I am proud to say that I am an advocate for sexual and reproductive health and gender-based violence. I now speak to young people about these vital issues, sharing the knowledge I wish I had gained years ago. I graduated with a degree in Economics from ABU and finally managed to leave that toxic relationship behind with my little daughter, who is now 4years old. This is my story.
