A South African rape survivor has narrated how her father was made to
pay for raping her over the course of 12 years and impregnating
her. Zizo Apleni, 24, has encouraged women to speak out against gender
violence by using her story as an example. She decided to speak about
her rape ordeal at the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against
Gender-Based Violence. Zizo, who authored the book "My Father Took My
Innocence" said she was raped by her father between 2001 and 2013. She
said she used to visit her father often and she was seven when the first
incident occurred.As I was young, I didn’t know what he was doing was
wrong. I only found out what he was doing after our hostel manager
taught us not to have sex with our boyfriends.When I got home, I told my
father what our hostel manager told us. He started threatening me and
said I should never report it, because no one would believe me.Zizo
obeyed her father and kept silent. It wasn't until she got pregnant in
2013 that her mother became aware of it.She recalled:I told her my
father had been raping me for years. We reported it to the police and he
was bust the same day.I was helped to abort the baby.In 2016, he was
sentenced to 12 years in prison. My mum was very supportive. Woman raped by her father over the course of 12 years and impregnated reveals how he bagged 12 years in jail
A South African rape survivor has narrated how her father was made to
pay for raping her over the course of 12 years and impregnating
her. Zizo Apleni, 24, has encouraged women to speak out against gender
violence by using her story as an example. She decided to speak about
her rape ordeal at the start of the 16 Days of Activism Against
Gender-Based Violence. Zizo, who authored the book "My Father Took My
Innocence" said she was raped by her father between 2001 and 2013. She
said she used to visit her father often and she was seven when the first
incident occurred.As I was young, I didn’t know what he was doing was
wrong. I only found out what he was doing after our hostel manager
taught us not to have sex with our boyfriends.When I got home, I told my
father what our hostel manager told us. He started threatening me and
said I should never report it, because no one would believe me.Zizo
obeyed her father and kept silent. It wasn't until she got pregnant in
2013 that her mother became aware of it.She recalled:I told her my
father had been raping me for years. We reported it to the police and he
was bust the same day.I was helped to abort the baby.In 2016, he was
sentenced to 12 years in prison. My mum was very supportive. 
