In the words of Sarah Baloyi: “If more young women get opportunities to gain financial independence that reduces vulnerability to GBV and HIV”.

I am from a small, informal settlement where young people are surrounded by drugs, alcohol abuse, and sugar daddies (older men who have sexual relations with young women and give them cash for it). I had a very rough childhood. My mother, a single parent with six children, did her best as a breadwinner but there was just never enough for all of us after my father passed away. I had to be strong for myself, my siblings, and my mother because I saw how hard it was for her to make sure that no one went to bed on an empty stomach.

Regardless of what was happening around me and my whole situation, I told myself I would do everything that it took for me to finish high school. I was determined to get educated so I could get out of that life and that kept me going. I passed my high school but did not have the funds to get a tertiary qualification, so I did what other young women in my community were doing to get by. I got into a relationship with an older man who funded my studies. He would buy me stuff and give me money, but as time went on, he started being abusive, and my mom was suspicious because she did not know and even when she would ask about where I was getting money from, I would come up with a story.

The final straw was when the abuse escalated and one day I woke up in the hospital with serious injuries and memory loss of the details of exactly what happened. I didn't want to report him to the authorities because he was my breadwinner. He was the one providing me with money to fund my fees, clothes, and money to put food on the table at home. But when I considered that if I died in this relationship, it would crush my mother who had worked so hard for us.

One day I met a young lady from an organization called Young Women for Life (YWfL). There I met other young women who had been in similar situations as I was and they invited me to their sessions. Through the weekly dialogues, I was empowered and began to heal. I then realized that I was not alone. I can do this. But I knew I couldn’t do it myself. I needed someone who would walk the journey with me. Thankfully, all the young women there supported me. And I left that abusive relationship, but I left with scars.

I started seeing life from a different perspective. I saw that I could do a lot for myself, without depending on a to meet my basic needs. Through YWfL I also met UN Women and Nokia. I was eager to go to school and further my studies, but I couldn't because I didn't have the money to do so. Through a programme presented by Nokia, in partnership with UN Women, I was selected to study, and I recently graduated as part of their first cohort as a certified 5G and AWS Cloud Practitioner.

Despite everything that I went through, I'm the first in my family to complete high school and the first in my family to graduate with a post-school qualification. Now the children in my community look up to me and my younger sister who is still in high school feels she now has a role model in our family to pursue her education. As much as I am glad, I graduated at age 30, I wish I had graduated at 20 or 21.

The best part is seeing how proud I have made my mother. I have to say I'm proud of myself. The Young Women for Life Movement, convened by the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops’ Conference, is one of UN Women’s implementing partners in South Africa to build resilience against HIV/AIDS among young women and to end violence against women in girls. In 2021, Nokia, in partnership with UN Women, launched a training program for survivors of gender-based violence in South Africa to strengthen their financial independence. The first cohort graduated in April 2024.