Woman contracts HIV after being raped

When Jill* responded to a newspaper ad to work as a caregiver in Kingston during the summer of 2020, she could hardly contain her excitement. The COVID-19 pandemic had crippled the country's economy, and the then 60-year-old was struggling to find work.

So when the opportunity came for her to travel to Kingston to work as a caregiver, she did not hesitate. She hopped on the first bus she could find, even though she was promised only short-term employment.

"Nothing did a gwan down this side where I lived so mi just grab the opportunity and come and come town and take care of the person in the wheelchair...Mi guh there and do the work and get mi pay, and everything was okay," the 63-year-old told THE STAR.

Unknown to her, however, her worst nightmare was lurking over the fence. Jill said that during her short stay in Kingston she was offered a job by one of her employer's neighbours.

'"Him tell mi say him get people to work for the woman that I was working with all the time and that he worked as a caretaker at another place and would want someone to take care of his mother for him. Mi meet him mother and she was a nice woman too. It was a full-time work suh mi end up take it," Jill said.

However, little did she know that she was making a pact with the devil by agreeing to take on the second job. Jill said she was raped by the man on her first night on the job.

"Him show mi room whe mi a sleep inna and mi change mi clothes, put on mi nightie and mi basically knock out a sleep. Mi have a dirty habit of spreading out on my back when mi a sleep and mi wake up with the man on top of me. Mi frighten and mi try fight him off, and there was no words exchange between us," she said.

Jill decided not to report the matter to the police.

"Mi never have any money and mi tell myself say mi a guh work out the week and collect mi pay and go home. But the second night mi sit down in the living room and mi tell myself say mi can't do it. Mi never go to the station because mi did shame. Honestly, the only way mi could go to a police is if mi know him. Mi never wah mi name out dere say mi get rape, mi shame. Mi sit up in the living room di night and di morning mi get back $2,000 fi mi fare and mi go back home," she said.

Jill said she returned home and tried to put the incident behind her. She said months later she began getting extremely tired but said she did not make much of it as she thought she was just overworking herself. She said she also noticed a dip in her weight but blamed it on other medical issues that she had. However, earlier this year Jill said she began having an untreatable skin rash. She said during one of her clinic visits it was suggested that she did a series of blood tests. It was then she learnt that she had contracted HIV.

She is certain that she contracted the virus from the man who raped her.

"Is nearly two decades mi never deh with any man because mi is a big oman and mi focus the past 20 years on taking care of mi children. Mi also inna mi church suh mi never have time for dem tings deh. Yuh know this is the first mi ever talk about it because mi shame. ... Mi children dem is adult and not even dem mi don't tell about it," Jill said, the pain evident in her voice.

"Mi on medication and mi meet some good doctors but I remember one asking me if I use to take drugs or do prostitution. That day mi feel to get mad and walk out but to be honest, the doctors really take care of mi and work on mi. Mi get a lot of counselling and mi feel better than before. The only thing is mi still very ashamed and can't talk about it. Mi never try reach out to di man who give mi or mi nuh tink mi ago ever report it. Mi nuh reach that stage yet. Mi nuh tink mi wah lay eyes on him again unless him dead," she added.

*Name changed to protect identity