I’m a young girl.
A room full of women.
My mum, aunties and other relatives are here too.
There’s a bed, just big enough for me to lie on.
I’m not quite aware of what is about to happen.
Why is everyone gathered here?
Is there a party going on today, where are the balloons and decorations then?
They lay me down.
I’m held down tightly by my mother and auntie.
What’s happening?
A lady leans over me.
Another covers my eyes.
This doesn’t seem like a party.
Why am I here?
Then I hear it, the sound of metal snipping, is someone crying, my mummy!
Why is she crying?
I’m stripped waist down.
It’s cold and I only showered this morning.
What are you doing?
I’m shivering, put my trousers back on!
The lady leans closer, who is she I’ve never seen her before.
She’s near my private area, she’s not allowed there. Nobody is, except mummy when washing me.
That scraping noise is becoming louder.
It’s scaring me now.
Oh my god, it’s touching down there.
I scream, “No, no, no! Stop! Please stop!”
Then pain is agonising, tears roll down my cheeks.
“Mummy stop her, she’s really hurting me!”
“Somebody help me please!”
I scream and scream and cry till I can’t anymore.
“Can nobody hear me?!”
My eyes close and everything goes dark.
When I wake my eyes are stinging and tears have dried down my cheeks.
What did they do to me just now?
Why did they circumcise me? What was it for?
I don’t want to move or see anybody.
Not even my mummy, how could she not help me?
How could they cause me so much pain and make me cry?
I wasn’t dirty or hurting down there, why did they cut me like that?
It was horrible, too horrible to explain.
I don’t remember much.
I passed out from the pain.
*****
What you just read was a real life experience I tried to imagine. I probably didn’t even explain an 8th of it.
Female genital mutilation is going on as I write this and we need it stop.
The NHS estimates that over 20,000 girls under the age of 15 are at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the UK each year, and that 66,000 women in the UK are living with the consequences of FGM. However, the true extent is unknown due to the ‘hidden’ nature of the crime.
These statistics are shocking and I can’t even begin to comprehend how this is still happening.
There are four main types of FGM:
Type 1 – clitoridectomy – removing part or all of the clitoris.
Type 2 – excision – removing part or all of the clitoris and the inner labia (lips that surround the vagina), with or without removal of the labia majora (larger outer lips).
Type 3 – infibulation – narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a seal, formed by cutting and repositioning the labia.
Other harmful procedures to the female genitals, which include pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping and burning the area.
How could this even be thought of, let alone carried out?
Let’s help put a stop to FGM and sign the petition now.