‘They held me down and told me not to scream’

Conference audience in horror as survivor recounts female circumcision experience in east Africa

Hoda Ali, a Somalian survivor of female genital mutilation

A SOMALIAN survivor of female genital mutilation spoke of the horrors of a procedure applied to her aged just seven.

Hoda Ali said she was told not to scream as she was held down and cut, otherwise she risked being bullied. She added that there were an alarming number of similar cases in Britain that were not being investigated.

Speaking to a stunned audience at a medical event organised by the Union of Turkish Healthcare Professionals in Britain (ITSEB), Ms Ali said had been given “FGM Type 3” as a child in Somalia.

The Type 3 procedure involves narrowing the vaginal opening using nearby tissue. It is typically carried out, with or without anaesthesia, by a traditional circumciser using a knife or razor.

The World Health Organisation estimates as many as 140 million women worldwide have been subjected to the procedure, which is sometimes known as female circumcision.

In Turkey, girls in Kurdish villages along the Iraq border are at risk, Ms Ali said, adding that in Britain 24,000 young girls under the age of 15 risked being cut and NHS hospitals reported an average 70 cases of each year.

Becoming tearful during her presentation, she continued: “Female genital mutilation was banned in Britain in 1985 and is punishable by a prison sentence of up to 15 years, but despite the law and the 66,000 women suspected of being circumcised, not a single inquiry has been opened in Britain.

The NHS does not know how to combat these incidents. They do not even produce brochures in the language of migrants from come from countries where the practice is prevalent, she said.

“Tens of thousands of girls are defenceless against a procedure that causes heavy trauma and even prevents them from having a normal menstrual cycle.”