Gugu grew up in a family that didn’t talk openly about relationships and love. As a teenager, she began seeing a man who abused her and forced her to have sex without a condom. Soon Gugu was a young mother, struggling to find acceptance. Gugu wants others to listen to her story and think about how they can support women’s rights and responsible sexuality for both men and women in rural areas.

Note: This story contains explicit content and is recommended for mature viewers age 14 and up.

key points to consider in viewing Gugu’s story

Often when there is abuse in a relationship, there are also feelings of powerlessness, fear, and isolation. As is true in Gugu’s story, these feelings can make it difficult to negotiate the terms of sex. Reflect on women’s rights and explore your own feelings and beliefs about a woman’s right to choose whether or how she has sex. Consider how community-wide beliefs might make it difficult for women to exercise these rights and for men to give up their sense of sexual entitlement.

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Download Gugu's story (.mov 57MB) (released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported license).