#MayKwentoAko has paved the way for individuals to speak up and share their stories of sexual violence. Here are some of the submissions we received from victims who experienced being molested when they were still very young.

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I was around 8-10 years old when this happened. I was young and innocent. During that time, my uncle always drinks alcohol and gets drunk. One time, he called me from my home; It was noon time. I was alone because my mother and father went to work. My uncle told me to clean the room of the house he is staying in. The house was messy because of the chalk board that went off from the roof; The chalkboard serves as a ceiling. Minutes later, I told him that I’d eat my lunch from home that was 5 blocks away from his place. After eating my lunch, I went back to his house.

I finished the task given to me in exchange for money. I was sitting on the floor and borrowed his cellphone to play games. Then later on, he took his penis out. It was not clear from my vision since I was playing snakes on his phone. But, I clearly see from my peripheral vision that it was his penis. He reached out for my hand but I said that I was playing games. I was scared to make my next move. While I was playing the game, I kept thinking of what I should do. The next thing I knew is i was running from his house to my home. I hid in the attic of my home but he found me. He smirked while he was getting near me. I was crying. He went near me and showed his penis again. He told me to touch it. I was educated enough to know what he was planning to do. I ran to the room of my parents and locked the door. I kept crying. I waited for my parents to go back by 8pm. Up until now, they didn’t know this story.” — Nell

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I was around 8 years old when my aunt tagged me along with her to the bank to withdraw, where we need to ride a tricycle and a jeepney. When we were in the jeep, my aunt and I sat side by side each other, and a little gap was between me and the next passenger. When suddenly a man in his corporate attire but looks off sat in that small gap beside me.

And what happened next became the reason why I did not commute alone until I was 18 years old – that man placed the envelope over his arm to hide his other arm while touching my legs and hip part. I was so afraid that I immediately wanted to sit on my aunt’s lap while he still did his thing. My aunt noticed it and she became hysterical. She wants to push out the man off the jeepney. I am already 28 now but that memory still makes me angry and suspicious.” — Dawn