Learn to walk while you can
Chipasha: The worst thing that he ever did was stripping me naked and beating me up while all my neighbours were watching. JACK ZIMBA CHIPASHA Iliamupu takes a deep breath and fans her face with her hand before she starts to narrate her story. It is a story she has definitely recounted a number of times before, but she still has to gather her inner strength to relive it. There is a deep sense of sadness in her voice, but she manages to mask it with her amiable face and a warm smile. The 23-year-old third-year linguistic student at the University of Zambia considers herself a survivor after enduring almost two-and-half years in an abusive marriage she describes as “modern-day slavery”. After breaking out of her abusive marriage eight years ago, Chipasha now wants to use her story to help other women to learn to walk before it is too late. Chipasha’s story began when she came of age at 14, in her village in Kaoma district, Western Province. She, l...