It’s been 12 years since Josephine Mukabasomingera started seeking justice for her child, who was born out of wedlock.
In 2010, she had a friend, with whom love later blossomed and they started dating. One thing led to another, and in that course, they chose to start living together as husband and wife even though they were not married legally.
Understandably, she got pregnant and nine months later gave birth to a baby boy. To her surprise, the father of her child started acting in unexpected ways.
“He refused to register the child in the civil status book and to give the child alimony. I raised the case to the village leaders, at the cell level, but he still denied the child,” she says.
This situation sent Mukabasomingera into depression because she couldn’t understand how a man she has been living with could turn on her like that.
“I was depressed and I kept wondering how my child will get his right to have both parents,” she notes.
That’s when she heard about Haguruka and how it provides legal aid services for women and children.
“I went there and explained my problem and Haguruka mediated us. The man still denied the child. That is when they decided to file a lawsuit against him. But when it was time for going for a pre-trial meeting, he finally came to acknowledge the child and he registered him in the civil status book and assigned him his property as child support.”