Lesotho: Harassed by my teacher

Senekane, 10 December: I am an innocent young boy aged 20. I went to a very popular high school, known for its best results. I was harassed when I was in form D. No one knows about this incident except for my best friend the person be reading this.

It was in the year 2010 when this woman, my teacher started making my life miserable, she approached me in a very hidden way and when I did something wrong she would not explain it to me but she would tell me to follow her to the staff room. This happened several times until my fellow students complained to me and said that the attention that I get it is too much because she likes me. I did not realise anything because I just thought she cared about me working hard worker, besides she was older than me and I respected her.

My teacher continued to show this kind of attention to me until one day I demanded that she explain issues in front of other students, but she ignored me. That was when I realised that she had a hidden agenda. One morning I started to tremble with fear.

The worst mistake that this woman did was to tell me to help her carry the scripts to her house, when we got to her house she locked the door and told me to seat down, I asked why she locked and she claimed that there are thieves. I told her I want to go back home as my mother would be worried. She did not respond with words instead she started to touch me in a way that I was not comfortable with, she added by kissing my chicks, I stood up very quickly and ran to the door. She seemed so relaxed and asked me whether I had forgotten that she locked it for us to have some private time.

She came to me slowly and started kissing me on the lips while I stood with shock wondering what was happening, for a moment I thought it was a dream and then she whispered in my ear asking whether I could see that she loves. She had told me that not even my closest friend should hear of our relationship, I was embarrassed, I did not think that even female teachers harass students. She dragged me to her bedroom where she took off her clothes, I could not look but she came to me and pulled me to her. I thought things like that never happen in reality but it happened to me.

Luckily, there was a knock at the door because one of her friends came to see her. I did not even look back, I picked up all my things and waited for her to put on clothes so she could go and open. By the time she opened, I passed her friend out the door without even a greeting or looking at her.

The next day at school, I could not even look her in the eye and never told anyone until now, but I felt like everybody saw what I saw. She called me to the staff room but I did not go. She made me look bad in front of the headmaster, so that I would be demoted from being the prefect, but the headmaster did not listen. It is still a shock to me. She stopped what she was doing and didn’t even communicate with me. I passed my form D without any complications, I never saw her the following year. She must have resigned.

Not his real name*

Amose lives Lesotho. This story is part of the “I” Stories series produced by the Gender Links News Service as part of the 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender violence, encouraging the view that speaking out can set you free.