An Onslow County woman with a traumatic past is sharing her story with the local community and hoping to empower other survivors with the start of her nonprofit, Rise Above Abuse Now. Fetihya Remedan Ahmed is originally from Ethiopia, born to a mother who was Christian Orthodox and a father who was Islamic. When Ahmed was very young, just five years old, her older sister was married to a wealthy neighbor, a man who ended up molesting Ahmed.
That was just the start of a cycle of abuse for her. Ahmed explained that where she's from, if a woman is no longer a virgin, regardless of whether she was raped, she's no longer wanted by her family. So, Ahmed was ultimately trafficked to Djibouti, where she spent several years.
"I just knew, if I don't escape, I will lose my life, or I'm going to take my life," Ahmed said. After enduring several more years of trafficking, Ahmed moved back home to be with her mom at the age of 14, the only family member she to this day has a relationship with. She then became pregnant with her first son at 17.
The cycle of abuse and trafficking didn't end, though, as Ahmed wound up back in Djibouti, where she met her first husband, an American Marine stationed there. "Abuse became part of me, so I was numb," she said. That man brought Ahmed to America, but she left her son behind with her mother, believing that was what was best for him.
However, not only did she not see him for 10 years due to the abuse by her husband, but Ahmed learned much later that t.
