'The trauma constantly kept coming back': My FGM story | BBC Africa  

Any man that chooses a wife based off the fact that she has undergone the FGM is a bloody buffoon.

my father wanted me and my sister to get this done when we were little but my mum refused.Im so happy my mum didn’t allow it

This should be considered a crime to hurt a child like that to me it's a crime the parents should be locked up

Interviewee: So I'm 7 years old.. Interviewer: So you're 8 years old.. Listening skills at their finest!

"but because people are not outraged by FGM, the way they should be, its because the idea of controlling womens bodies and their sexuality is the norm globally" WOW THAT SENTENCE made a light bulb go off... so powerful and soooo accurate

im somali and im really luck my grandfather was a rebel and decided not to get my mother and auntie done even though a lot of people get it done in my country.

I feel sick knowing this abuse is normalized. No one should go through this horrendous pain.

I was cut too. This is sick practice, it need to be stop.

It’s absolutely disgusting how a parent can abuse their child’s sexual parts like that.

My God this is horrifying; I'm traumatized just listening. This mutilation needs to stop😢

What an amazing women , she spoke so eloquently. She is so brave . Thankyou for sharing your story

that has to be so painful & traumatizing. I feel bad for the little girls of today who still have to undergo this & are forced into it. 😢

one of the most evil things you can do to someone. I would never speak my parents again and would never let this happen to my daughter. good for her for speaking out and protecting her daughter.

I’m E African as well and every female born before the 80s in my family has undergone FGM. My youngest aunt and all my cousins were spared(thank the lord) thanks to the elder generations gaining a better understanding of what FGM can actually do to a woman. Educating people dose make a difference and this practice is slowly but surely dying out. Thank you Leyla for speak about your experiences and condemn this horrible practice.

I now live in the UK, thankfully for my girl who will never go through what I went through. I had mine when I was 8, I remember I was playing with friends, that is when a lady came and told me to come with her cuz my mum needed me urgently.. So I runed and followed her. The rest was a night mare. The thing is in africa........even if back then your parents refused to do it, other family members will still take u to do it.. Very sad practice and a long term consequences for the victims.

My son at 2 years old was circumcised of necessity to end a medical issue. In males it can be a hygiene issue and must not be confused with what is done to girls.

Thank God my mother was smart enough not to put me through that pain.she said no way am going through .may Allah grant her jahnna inshaAllah. Am happy married for 7 years now .

i first learnt of this practice back in school at around 15 y/o. i still remember the visceral, horrifying way the narrator recounted her experience. i'm so sorry for every person who has to undergo this and this is just one of many practices that need to be stopped.

This thing, maybe a cultural thing, BUT because it physically hurts a person Cutting it's definitely abusive. She is right, this NEEDS to be STOPPED PERMANENTLY!

I was the lucky one where my grandmother and mother forgot about me when I was a child. But when I was 9 my great grandmother wanted me to get cut and I was crying saying no. Then at the age of 13 I came to the US and no one remembered that I was not cut. Now at the age of 29, I can only imagine what my life would have been as a married woman. I am from east Africa

My heart breaks for all kids who have genital mutilation and breast rolling, boys and girls. She is such a amazing and strong woman and her kids have a hell of a mama! I cannot imagine holding a child down to inflict such heinous pain. Hell, few years back on my bday my niece and I went to the beach and as soon as she stepped onto the grass a huge sand spur went into her flipflop and into her toes! She was crying and I was crying, she was 4 and I couldn't get them out because I couldn't hurt her like that. It was crazy, it was like I had no control over my hand and all I could do was tell her how sorry I was and carry her back to the car, which isn't easy for someone with a bad heart with a kid half my size lol. She still talks about it to this day at almost 7 lol

My family went to visit Somalia when I was 11 and I heard my aunties tell my mom that I should get cut soon. My mom was considering it and it wasn’t until the lady that was supposed to do it called in sick that my mom got the balls to tell her sisters that she didn’t think it was ok. I had no idea about the consequences of FGM and only now that I’m older and know I thank God my mom was brave enough to do that. Somali culture needs to stop this ideology 🙏🏽

I’ve never felt more fortunate towards my womanhood before. Omg I solute all the woman who’ve undergone this & were taught it’s normal & the pressure that you had on your own daughters because you were ignorantly told this is the only way she would be accepted & clean & beautiful. 💕💕

This woman is amazing! I hope she gets all the support she needs.

Great interview. She is beautiful and I love her accent. Mine was done when I was 7 too. I have kids now, and can totally relate to her experience. My baby sister is 14; she hasn't had hers done yet thankfully, so Im trying my best to convince my parents not to allow hers and make her go through what I have been through afterwards.

My heart breaks for these women who've gone through this violating and horrific experience. It needs to end

This is barbaric! Thank god people are trying to change this

Thank you for sharing. You are a brave woman! Much love to you and your daughter!

Oh My Lord bless this Lady

I was cut too and it haunts me all the time. Interacting with other people is difficult because this world is filled with people who support this abuse and joke about it surprisingly often.

All family that didnt allow this to happen are amazing and blessed may God truly bless them

I’d never speak to my mother again because if she did this to me.

I feel sick. I genuinely thought that this happened to a small portion of the population. I cannot believe how common it is.

I was 4 years old when FGM was done to me and my sisters.I remembered being in this old and dusty room with a woman holding a blazer I don’t remember the pain but what I remembered is my little sister having fgm done in the other room beside me she screamed so much it made me cry.

This should be taught in school, I had no idea what FGM was until I saw this and had to look up what it actually is, and I think that awareness needs to spread about this and then hopefully the culture surrounding it can change.

I cant imagine the pain of going through it..so sad.The culture is so medivel.

I am so sorry! The more knowledge about this abuse is power. I pray for strength for the mothers who stand up against this horrific practice.

Why are there always dudes in the comments trying to make this subject about themselves??? Anyway to Leyla, I love your courage to speak so candidly about something so sensitive and traumatic. I support your cause.

Thank you for this episode

I’m so thankful that my grandparents and my parents are not about that bullshit. My grandfather was told to Mary’s cousin and he said hell no. My parents, even though they are completely opposite religions got married and are now in the U.S so I don’t have to deal with any of this B.S. Thank God this woman will never do this to her children. I pray for the children who go through this and are forever physically and emotionally scarred for life, IF they survive.

What a truly beautiful woman but her story breaks my heart! Keep your head up, stay strong. You have many people across the world supporting you!

Why is no one talking about how sensitive that area really is... that's absolutely horrible and this needs to stop!

I had the pleasure of working within the same company as her, truly humble and inspirational women. I think this cultural practise is horrendous and I feel blessed to be from a Carribean background where this is not practised

This is so upsetting, this needs to be outlawed completely worldwide! I'm so very sorry to any woman that has endured this mutilation 🙏❤

😢😢😭😭..i love my mom for fighting for me not to undergo this abuse. May Allah grant her jannah, Amiin

Thanks for sharing !

I do feel sorry for every Queen that had to go through this type of forever pain in her life😢

Wow the woman comes across so strong. I hope she found peace of mind ♥️

Thank for your voice ... this needs to come from inside the culture ... we need outraged about this practice!!

Here in the USA there are surgeons who restore women’s genitals to pre-FGM condition. I was surprised, but it *is* possible, as much of the clitoris remained buried and can be uncovered. I saw an excellent YT documentary on it some years ago, sorry I can’t find the name or link.

what a great interviewer letting the person being interviewed speak and not making it about her own knowledge and skill *rare.

Good for you. You are an inspiration!!!

You are such a strong woman.

I’m so glad that she is speaking out about this, it can’t be easy to relive that trauma and so publicly. So disgraceful, I hope this stops happening in close years to come.

FMG is very big in somalia specially when it being done in somali 1- they will get you naked infront of everyone children usually cry from that 2- they will force you tie you so they can do it to you 3- in somalia is not done by a doctor it’s just an old lady with sewing tools cut you you will some girl die from it some can’t stand for months and when you get your period or become pregnant is even worst it’s just a crime my mom did it to my sisters i wish there was something like a law rule that stopped her during that time she knows she did wrong because till this time after more 20 years my sis pass out from period because of the FMG she had in the past

God bless this brave woman for breaking the cycle of abuse and protecting her precious daughter from this cruel, barbaric practise!

Thank you for sharing

What an injustice, God bless you!

I did my senior term paper on this subject back in 1993/94! It's still going on this very day.

It happened to my mom because she is also Somalian. And it was just about to happen to me ffs.

I live in one of the most culturally diverse areas of Australia, FGM is illegal in our country and yet we see several woman a week who have had this practice done to them. Most come from overseas already mutilated, some send there daughters back to countries where it is legal to have the cut and a few have had it done outside our health system in country. As a person working in the health sector this is a real issue in particular with birthing. Interestingly, it is also illegal for us as health professionals, to repair the FGM when it is torn by the baby crowning. Basically we can only make things into normal, not close them back to the degree they were prior. So lots of woman go overseas again after their baby is born and have it redone, then they get pregnant again and the cycle continues.

this is literally my worst fear.

I am so sorry for all of you that had to have this done.

Thank you for sharing and being so brave

I've seen a documentary where young girls were told that if they're not cut they won't find a husband. They're told that they will keep growing down there and that women who are cut " cook better rice ". 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

this is horrible :( I'm from saudi we have it here too in the arab community :(

So glad that this topic is being talked about! And also- is nobody going to mention how beautiful that host is!

You are so amazing thanks for sharing

My heart goes out to her and all people who have been through something like that. 😭 so proud of her for sharing her story and raising awareness.💖💕 This seriously has to stop.

Look I live in Florida now... I am from Tanzania and my first english classes at FSU i wrote a paper abt this and a Malian friend of mine(Imagine Mali) told me pls dont talk abt it.... But some Bantu-nilotic,nilotic and Afro-arabic cultures practice this till now.... Its psychotic to me....

I'm.so sorry you went through this. I can't even imagine. 💔

She's so beautiful stay strong.❤

This is so heart breaking. Those girls deserve so much better. No child deserves that treatment. This is child abuse to the fullest.

Harming or humiliating in no matter what culture or religion should be forbidden long time ago. We're all equal, every gender is equal. If humans would think about others more than themselves, we would evolve in something truly beautiful.

Wow!!!!!!!!! This makes so much sense to me!

You are so brave and well spoken, so much admiration. They should definitely teach about fgm in school😢 If id have known about fgm i would have known a doctor offering to perform labiaplasty on me as a 15 year old would cause me the same life long injuries and problems. Labiaplasty causes the same damage but is made to seem like a minor, harmless procedure. I had my labia amputated by NHS doctors in the UK. It makes me so angry that young women are raised to not know their own body to the point that they think their anatomy is wrong because they havent been taught it. Then professionals agree to chop it off. Sickening.

We all somali girls go through that owful thing 😭

I remember someone saying long ago men did that to their women over there so when the men went out the women wouldn't cheat...is that how it came about? That's crazy and sad. I didnt know they still did that!!! So isn't this for them not to have sexual feeling? How's that even pleases the man I'm so confused ? That's crazy esp when cultural differences goes against religious beliefs

Thank you.

Gosh how awful 🙁 I feel so sad for anyone who has gone through that

In India, the Bohra community goes through this. They call the clitoris "haram ki boti" and haram in Hindi/ Urdu means something that's not pure. So basically the clit is considered unholy. The story goes this way: when Africans spread throughout the world for trading purposes, they carried with them this tradition. Now as they are businessmen, they would stay out of their houses for months at a time. To "curb" the sexual urges of their women, this used to be practiced. Funny and ironic, how something that's natural and biologically important to us, is considered impure cause society thinks it to be. P.S. : I am not hating on anybody. I have utmost respect for all culture, religions and ethnicities. All I am saying is that, due to the patriarchal society, women have gone through and will always go through some unnatural subjugation. And this lady is so strong and she has my utmost respect that she chose to come out and talk about what's been done to her. Some women can't even open up due to the sheer pain and trauma they have been through, that can't be erased. Ever.

I am an African RU-vidr and Life coach based in the USA and this is a trauma for our women.

Amazing woman yes speak up...I am so sad.

What a beautiful intelligent woman.

I am so sorry for this beautiful woman and any other person inflicted with this barbarism. So infuriating and terrible.

Let’s join hands and end FGM!! 3 million girls in Africa alone per year are being cut 😢💔

Leyla is amazing

People don’t talk about this so much, lots of women can’t even try to talk about this, good to see her speak about this

OMG how horrible! I can’t comprehend at all!!!

I don't wanna hear that it gives me a goosebump

I’m so sorry that you had to endure this.

This needs to be louder and stopped everywhere

This is exactly my story. I was born raised between Saudi Arabia and America. My family also hired doctor to make things “easier” they called it sunna since it was partial clitoris removal. I was 9 and to this day I’m scared of doctors.

I am outraged. I had no idea this is happening. I don't disrespect others culture but this is truly disgusting. No child should go through this. No God wants this. I'm physically shaken.

This is a major issue for the women and girls suffering this horrific practice more awareness and more action from governments and community care across the world my thoughts are with these women always x

an amazing woman. wow.

When any woman is not free I am not free as well even if my chains are losser than hers....I feel your pain.

Heartbreaking... 😔

Oh my, how horribly awful! I’m so very sorry that you and other sweet children have to deal with this abuse! It makes me angry! What can I do to help?

I feel so bad for her and others who went through this 😢