Activists and survivors from Sierra Leone speak out against female genital mutilation.
FGM is gender-based violence
“In the old days if you were not part of the Bondo society and had not undergone FGM, you would be discriminated against and they would stigmatise you badly. And parents still pass on that view to their children, so they often also try to force their children to join the society. And that is what we are trying to put a stop to,” says Zainab.
FGM steals girls’ futures
“When a girl is forced to undergo FGM, she loses her future,” Zainab says.
“As well as the danger of death and bleeding, FGM also causes girls to drop out of school – which in turn leads to early marriage and to teenage pregnancy – because their parents will save up all their money to pay for their initiation."
FGM extends poverty
“They will use the money to buy food for the Soweis and for the crowd who come for the ceremony, so after they have done all that, when you come out from your initiation, your parents will not have any money to send you to school, so FGM extends poverty."
Happily, her activism has had an impact on her mother who is no longer a Sowei thanks to Zainab’s influence. She is now also a proud advocate against the practice.
FGM can be traumatising
Twenty-year-old Sewanatu was forced to be cut when she was just 6.
“My grandma told me to follow her, and when I asked where we were going she just said, 'You need to become a full member of our family.'
“After four days they came to check on me and my grandma said there had been a problem and they hadn’t removed it all. So they took me again and I went through the whole process a second time."