WHILE the trauma of one rape incident can last a lifetime, 21-year-old Tatiyana was forced to endure gang rapes, not twice but multiple times during her 10-year stay on the streets of Lusaka. Girls living on the streets are particularly vulnerable physically and economically and are also exposed to nonconsensual sexual relationships. At the age of nine and having been on the streets for only a few weeks, Tatiyana was coerced into getting a ‘boyfriend’ from among the older male street kids for protection, after experiencing her first gang rape. “For a female to survive on the streets, you need to agree to having a boyfriend from among the older street boys. You become his object with no objection to...

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