{"id":1286,"date":"2016-12-27T20:40:38","date_gmt":"2016-12-27T17:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mmdsom.org\/?p=1286"},"modified":"2016-12-27T20:44:27","modified_gmt":"2016-12-27T17:44:27","slug":"you-never-forget-the-trauma-british-woman-recalls-horror-of-fgm-and-describes-it-as-child-abuse-that-has-gone-on-for-too-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/?p=1286","title":{"rendered":"\u2018YOU NEVER FORGET THE TRAUMA\u2019 British woman recalls horror of FGM and describes it as child abuse that has gone on for too long"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIT\u2019S totally heinous\u201d\u2026 that\u2019s how one British woman bravely described the horror of female genital mutilation (FGM).<\/p>\n

Somalian-born Hibo Wardere, 47, from London, was only six years old when she was forced to undergo FGM<\/a> \u2013 a procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, injured and changed.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"At<\/a><\/p>\n

HIBO WARDERE<\/div>\n
7<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
At the age of six, Hibo Wardere, was subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The barbaric practice, which nearly killed her, has been illegal in the UK since 1985 and is classified as child abuse<\/a> \u2013 but an estimated 20,000 British girls are thought to be at risk of FGM each year.<\/p>\n

Speaking to The Sun, Hibo, a teaching assistant, said: \u201cPeople think it\u2019s an African or an Asian thing, but it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a British thing because we have a lot of migrants who have moved here from different parts of the world and they are still confused by their community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"She<\/a><\/p>\n

NICOLA TREE \/ HIBO WARDERE<\/div>\n
7<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
She believes that education is the key to eradicating the barbaric practice<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Plan UK<\/a>, which campaigns to eradicate FGM, around 200 million girls and women<\/a> globally are living with the consequences of this devastating practice.<\/p>\n

The mum-of-seven added: \u201cFGM is child abuse that has gone on too long. There should be a global cry to fight to end it and the only way you can do that is through education.<\/p>\n

\u201cChild abuse is everybody\u2019s business \u2013 it\u2019s my business and it\u2019s your business.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have colour, it doesn\u2019t have religion, it doesn\u2019t have borders, it doesn\u2019t have anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to educate and make people understand the horrific side of FGM that most don\u2019t get and these girls have a right to be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

HIBO WARDERE<\/div>\n
7<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
The teaching assistant now tours schools speaking and has written a book about FGM<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Recounting the traumatic day, Hibo recalled being taken into a small hut in Mogadishu, Somalia<\/a>, where she sat on the floor with her arms pinned, while two women yanked her legs apart before another woman \u2013 the cutter \u2013 drew out razors.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou knew in your own heart something was going to go down,\u201d she said. \u201cI just knew when I saw the razors and when my legs were being held apart, I knew something excruciatingly painful and horrible was about to take place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her clitoris and labia were chopped off and she was stitched up using a thorn and thick thread, leaving only a tiny hole where her vagina had once been.<\/p>\n

The \u201ccutter\u201d used no anaesthesia, no sterilisation and no professional surgical instruments.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Child abuse is everybody\u2019s business \u2013 it\u2019s my business and it\u2019s your business<\/p>\n

Hibo Wardere<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Hibo says she always struggles to make people understand the physical and mental agony as a result of the mutilation.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody ever forgets the trauma, that is always there,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is actually no words in this world that can describe the pain. When you\u2019re forcefully held down and your flesh is cut over and over again \u2013 it was horrific.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like a wave hitting one after the other \u2013 your whole body was lit up with pain. Nothing could numb it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day before she was cut, her family held a huge party for her with presents and food.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I knew was something beautiful was going to take place and everyone was telling me how brave I was going to be and that I was going to become a woman,\u201d she said. \u201cI was very eager, I was looking forward to it because I didn\u2019t know what it was \u2013 no one ever discussed it and that was that.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back now, it was grooming \u2013 making you believe something beautiful and amazing is going to take place \u2013 which wasn\u2019t the case at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Hibo,<\/a><\/p>\n

HIBO WARDERE<\/div>\n
7<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
Hibo, at 18, when she fled Somalia to escape the country\u2019s civil war and its repressive culture<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At 18, Hibo decided to claim asylum in London to escape Somalia\u2019s repressive culture and the country\u2019s civil war that erupted in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n

Months later, she met her husband, Yusuf, who also came to the city as a refugee from Somalia.<\/p>\n

Before they got married, they made a pact that if they ever had daughters, they would never be cut, even though FGM remains a tradition in Somali culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something we\u2019ve never discussed again because once we made the decision \u2013 that was it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

What is female genital mutilation (FGM)?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an illegal procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, injured and changed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also known as \u201cfemale circumcision\u201d or \u201ccutting\u201d, and it is child abuse.<\/p>\n

The NHS states there\u2019s no medical reason for this to be done.<\/p>\n

There are four types of FGM<\/b>
\nType 1:<\/b> Removing part or all of the clitoris.
\nType 2:<\/b> 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).
\nType 3:<\/b> Narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a seal, formed by cutting and re-positioning the labia.
\nType 4:<\/b> Pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping or burning the area.
\nSource: NHS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Along with the severe psychological and physical trauma, Hibo, who had Type 3 mutilation, found help from a GP <\/a>but still suffers medical complications as a result.<\/p>\n

After many years of repressing her traumatic memories, Hibo opened up for the first time about FGM when she was asked by the headteacher of the school she works at to get involved when a 10-year-old girl was suspected of being taken out of school to be sent to Somalia.<\/p>\n

Now she visits schools to educate kids and gives talks to local councillors, police officers, social workers, midwives and doctors to raise awareness.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\"Hibo<\/a><\/p>\n

HIBO WARDERE<\/div>\n
7<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
Hibo with her memoir, Cut, which was published earlier this year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

\"It<\/a><\/p>\n

HIBO WARDERE<\/div>\n
7<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
It was a book she had never imagined of writing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since then, her memoir, Cut: One Woman\u2019s Fight against FGM in Britain Today<\/a>, was published on April 7 \u2013 a book she had never imagined of writing.<\/p>\n

Speaking about its success, Hibo said: \u201cI was speechless at first but now I see that it is a blessing because it\u2019s an educational book and it suits everyone \u2013 doctors, teachers, students and the normal public are all buying it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so proud I did it but it wasn\u2019t an easy thing to write because I had to dig out every detail and that was hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

But not everyone\u2019s happy about her work, particularly in the Somali community.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Hibo was attacked on a bus by a Muslim woman who was angry that she came to her school and told her child that female circumcision was a form of abuse.<\/p>\n

Hibo said: \u201cAs a mother, where is your motherly love, where is your instinct to protect your child? Why would you want to put an innocent child through the heartache you went through?\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the isolated incident, she believes it\u2019s mainly men who have a problem with her anti-FGM campaigning and are usually the ones who are negative especially on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently a man on Twitter told me to shut up and accused me of damaging the Somali community,\u201d she said. \u201cHe even admitted he has a wife who has has been cut and that he \u2018enjoys\u2019 it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes you feel it\u2019s ok for your wife or daughter to be cut? What if it was you, if they removed your penis because and they\u2019re speechless after that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she insists the negativity comes with the territory and it\u2019s something she has learnt to fight back against.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIT\u2019S totally heinous\u201d\u2026 that\u2019s how one British woman bravely described the horror of female genital mutilation (FGM). Somalian-born Hibo Wardere, 47, from London, was only six years old when she was forced to undergo FGM \u2013 a procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, injured and changed. HIBO WARDERE 7 At the age of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1286"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1289,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions\/1289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmdsom.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}