SAY NO TO FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION



As the world marks 16 days of activism against gender based violence, I would like to remember millions of girls who undergo female genital mutilation. Girls who are forced to undergo the pain of cutting, and girls who innocently go through mutilation believing that it is ‘so normal’ for them to be cut.



I remember when we were kids, my five friends and I really pressurized our mothers to ensure that we were cut over a certain holiday. I am sure somebody will wonder why we did. The reason is because, from a young age we were made to believe Female Genital Mutilation is very normal, that every girl needs to go through it, that nobody gets married before being cut and that cutting is the only way you can fully become part of your community as a woman. But years later we discovered the sad truth, that FGM is violence and it is not a must to undergo it and that girls who are not circumcised are very normal.



You will hear stories of women whose womanhood are destroyed due to female genital mutilation, stories of women whose careers were cut short and self-esteem destroyed. As a survivor of this cutting, I really hate it and I always believe that it is the worst kind of human rights violation against women. It has no benefit to anyone, not even the community members that aspire with all they have to cut every girl.



Sometimes I wonder whether we are doing the right thing as grass root fighters against this harmful practice but whatever approach we use, we must fight and we will fight to our last breath. It has hard to eradicate deeply rooted belief overnight but one thing I always believe is that even a drop in an ocean will finally bring out that change. Let us continue working on more policies, target more of younger generation/young girls so that when we look back years later in our very old ages we will feel so much pride of the impact that was brought out of our struggles. Am no longer a victim of this practice but a survivor, and as a proud survivor I say no to FGM and call upon all of you to join me in this journey, let us work as much as we can towards having a world free of the cut for every girl.  #orangetheworld#Istandwithher#notofemalegenitalmutilation#aproudsurvivor.                                                                                

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