Добавить новость

Politico: глава МИД Венгрии Сийярто посетит Белоруссию 1 ноября

Жители Подмосковья нашли в лесу беспомощную сову сплюшку

Мособлархитектура одобрила облик школы на 1 100 мест в Лосино-Петровском

«Стали случаться опасные манипуляции»: Селиванов объяснил, почему захотел забрать дочь у экс-жены





Новости сегодня

Новости от TheMoneytizer

I’m an FGM survivor – barbaric abuse on a family holiday aged 7 nearly killed me, I’ve had death threats for speaking up

“THAT’S just what happens to little girls like you”, was what Nimco Ali was told by her teacher after she was subjected to the horror of female genital mutilation (FGM).

Just seven years old at the time, Nimco was desperately trying to make sense of what had happened to her but was told what so many survivors hear about FGM – it’s part of being a woman.

Nimco Ali is a survivor of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Sarah Brick for Fabulous
FGM involves partial or total removal of the female anatomy for non medical reasons
Getty

The barbaric procedure involves partial or total removal of the female anatomy for non medical reasons and has been illegal in the UK since 1985, and is classified as child abuse.

According to data from 2013, there are 230 million women globally living with FGM, 137,00 of those women live right here in the UK, including Nimco. 

Born in Somaliland, her childhood was split between Africa and the UK, living in both Manchester and Cardiff.

The eldest of six siblings, Nimco was the last generation of a long line of women to undergo FGM, and for the past decade she has campaigned to make sure the generational abuse stops for thousands of women globally.

It’s been 34 years since Nimco was subjected to the horror of FGM at the age of seven but she still remembers the sense of ‘evil’ she felt that day.

On a family holiday to Dijbouti, Africa to visit relatives, Nimco had no idea what was planned for her.

She reminded me of a dementor from Harry Potter – I could just sense this evil coming from her

Nimco Ali

Speaking to Fabulous as part of Life Stories, our YouTube series where ordinary people share their extraordinary experiences, Nimco recalls: “It was just before we came back to the UK.

‘A sense of evil’

“We were at the house we were staying in and I just had a feeling that something was planned for me but I didn’t understand what that was.

“I wasn’t afraid until I physically saw my cutter.

“She reminded me of a dementor from Harry Potter – I could just sense this evil coming from her. 

“I didn’t understand what the dire consequences would be, but I knew nothing good was coming my way.”

Nimco was given some anaesthesia but stresses that the procedure was not done in a medical environment.

She was subjected to type 3 FGM (for more information please see box below) which is considered to be a more extreme version.

However, London-based Nimco says she doesn’t see it that way.

“I would never classify any FGM as being worse than the other,” she says.

“I think the actual act of FGM is what’s terrible, and no one is more illegal or appalling than the next. 

“That’s the reason why I don’t really differentiate what happened to me and what happened to other girls. 

WHAT IS FGM AND HOW CAN IT BE TREATED?

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an illegal procedure where the female genitals are deliberately cut, injured and changed.

It’s also known as “female circumcision” or “cutting”, and it is child abuse.

The NHS states there’s no medical reason for this to be done.

There are four types of FGM
Type 1: Removing part or all of the clitoris.
Type 2: 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: Narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a seal, formed by cutting and re-positioning the labia.
Type 4: Pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping or burning the area.
Source: NHS

What are the side effects?

  • Constant pain
  • Pain and/or difficulty having sex
  • Repeated infections, which can lead to infertility
  • Bleeding, cysts and abscesses
  • Problems passing urine or incontinence
  • Depression, flashbacks and self-harm
  • Problems during labour and childbirth, which can be life-threatening for mother and baby
  • Some girls die from blood loss or infection as a direct result of the procedure

How can it be treated?

Surgery called deinfibulation can be performed to open up the vagina.

It is sometimes known as a “reversal”, but the NHS says this is misleading because the procedure doesn’t replace removed tissue and doesn’t undo the damage caused by FGM.

Surgery can be recommended for women who are unable to have sex or have difficulty passing urine, or pregnant women at risk of problems during labour as a result of FGM.

Deinfibulation involves making a cut to open the scar tissue over the entrance to the vagina and is usually performed under local anaesthetic.

“It was still a harmful experience and something that was completely unnecessary and unacceptable.”

Back in the UK and desperate to make sense of what happened to her, she sought the help of her teacher.

“I was always a very outspoken child and so I told her what had happened to me outright,” Nimco says.

“She looked absolutely horrified and didn’t have an answer suitable for a seven-year-old so she just told me that this is what happened to girls like me.”

Could never recover

Nimco says that while the aftermath of her procedure ‘wasn’t necessarily painful’, it changed her.

“I was angry,” she says.

“I was incredibly angry with the people around me who I trusted and I think that really stayed with me for a long time.” 

Nimco says she never truly ‘recovered’ physically from her FGM until the age of 11 when she collapsed in the school playground.

Nimco almost died as a result of an infection caused by her FGM
She has campaigned tirelessly to end FGM for women and girls
Dave Benett/Getty Images
Anti-FGM activist Nimco with the President of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi

The procedure had caused an urinary infection four years later and Nimco was dangerously close to kidney failure, she was rushed to hospital where she was treated. 

“My FGM couldn’t be undone of course, that’s why we call it ‘mutilation’,” Nimco says.

“But I was able to live a healthier life after that.

I just wanted other survivors to know they weren’t alone

Nimco Ali

“Though my mental recovery didn’t begin until I began my campaign work in my 30s.”

Nimco has been campaigning to end FGM globally for over a decade, but she admits that while she was an outspoken child, speaking out didn’t come easily.

She says: “I never really wanted to talk about FGM because it was something that was very personal. 

“There was always this picture that was painted of a poor African girl from an uneducated family. This horrible thing happened to her. We need to rescue her.

“I didn’t need to be rescued, I didn’t want people to see me that way.

“It wasn’t until my 30s, when I met another survivor who was sharing her story on stage that I realised I had to speak out.

“She was being forced to tell her story, and was hyperventilating on stage.

“I realised my silence was complicit in her struggle and it meant she thought there was no one out there who related to what she had been through.

“I just wanted her, and other survivors, to know they weren’t alone.”

In 2019 Nimco co-founded The Five Foundation, The Global Partnership To End FGM, to raise the issue on the international agenda and to get new donors to contribute.

Nimco,  who was awarded an OBE in 2019 for her campaigning, also previously co-founded Daughters of Eve in 2010. 

Nimco’s work over the past ten years has helped to thrust the issue of FGM into the forefront of issues in ending violence against women.

There’s no doubt that her work has an overwhelmingly positive impact, she admits that initially she attracted negative attention.

“I had incredibly negative responses when I first spoke about FGM,” she says.

Death threats

“I received death threats, people who I really trusted were very angry with the fact I was speaking out as a strong survivor.

“Ultimately I had to move away from where I was living and I lost contact with a lot of people.

“For the first six years it felt very isolating and I felt like I was speaking out because I had to rather than wanting to.”

Nimco was the last of the women in her family who was subjected to FGM with every woman before her also being cut.

She admits that initially her mum struggled with her decision to speak out about the abuse.

“It was something that was quite painful for her and I was very open about it,” she says.

“I think she worried what people would think of her well-educated daughter talking about her vagina. 

“I’m conscious about the reactions other people have, but I don’t necessarily care about it as much as I used to, ultimately I am doing this to protect others.”

While her family had been present and aware of her FGM, Nimco says she doesn’t hold any blame to her mum for what happened.

“My FGM happened really out of context,” she says.

“My childhood was totally idyllic and I was extremely happy.

“My mum and my grandmother were incredible feminists and they were women who championed me throughout my life. 

“They had no control over what is a patriarchal practice that they had been brought up with. 

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT NIMCO’S FIGHT TO END FGM

I have worked for the last decade to make sure that girls are given the protection they need and not failed like I was.

I co-founded The Five Foundation, The Global Partnership To End FGM, in 2019 to raise the issue on the international agenda and to get new donors to contribute.

We have raised new funds for this abuse of children.

In 2020 we re-granted funding and provided support in other ways to around 20 women’s rights activists working on the front lines in the UK, Somaliland, The Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Tanzania.

For some reason, large donors have steered clear of funding work to end FGM. It is sometimes seen as too complicated to solve, even though we know that when funding goes to the right place it can be reduced significantly.

We need to start to ramp up funding to the brave women on the frontlines who are doing all of the heavy lifting.

I hope you can join this effort too and donate through The Five Foundation’s website.

“They had control over the way that I was raised prior to my FGM and after my FGM. So I was allowed to be who I was. 

“For me to be as vocal, as argumentative and also as single mindedly stubborn as I was, I think that’s a testament to the women that were around me.” 

While Nimco admits that she is strong and resilient, she says that doesn’t need to be the case for every survivor.

“There’s an incredible strength in vulnerability,” she says.

“Sometimes when you let things fall apart is when you really find your true self.

“There are people out there to help you so I would say to every survivor, be kind to yourself and give yourself grace and time.

“Your story is your own and it’s up to you when you tell it.”

Nimco says it is up to every survivor how they want to tell their story
Sarah Brick for Fabulous

Читайте на 123ru.net


Новости 24/7 DirectAdvert - доход для вашего сайта



Частные объявления в Вашем городе, в Вашем регионе и в России



Smi24.net — ежеминутные новости с ежедневным архивом. Только у нас — все главные новости дня без политической цензуры. "123 Новости" — абсолютно все точки зрения, трезвая аналитика, цивилизованные споры и обсуждения без взаимных обвинений и оскорблений. Помните, что не у всех точка зрения совпадает с Вашей. Уважайте мнение других, даже если Вы отстаиваете свой взгляд и свою позицию. Smi24.net — облегчённая версия старейшего обозревателя новостей 123ru.net. Мы не навязываем Вам своё видение, мы даём Вам срез событий дня без цензуры и без купюр. Новости, какие они есть —онлайн с поминутным архивом по всем городам и регионам России, Украины, Белоруссии и Абхазии. Smi24.net — живые новости в живом эфире! Быстрый поиск от Smi24.net — это не только возможность первым узнать, но и преимущество сообщить срочные новости мгновенно на любом языке мира и быть услышанным тут же. В любую минуту Вы можете добавить свою новость - здесь.




Новости от наших партнёров в Вашем городе

Ria.city

Подмосковные росгвардейцы задержали подозреваемого в краже дорогостоящего парфюма из магазина

Загрутдинов: Завершен монтаж фасадов в школе на Салтыковской улице

В первом российском музее игрушки разогнали интернет

Житель Чувашии на День отца выиграл 1 млн в «Русское лото»

Музыкальные новости

«Локомотив» победил СКА в матче лидеров Западной конференции КХЛ

Республиканец Шварценеггер поддержал демократа Харрис на предстоящих выборах

This new FPS is so good, it's almost unfair that it's free: A '1v1 me bro' simulator with 70 maps and no microtransactions that feels like the sickest Counter-Strike: Source mod of 2007

Актер «Кадетства» Головин накопил сотню штрафов: топ «звездных» нарушителей ПДД

Новости России

Курс юаня к рублю может упасть в конце 2024 года

В офисе «Спартака» висели портреты Салаха, Мане и Мареза — их реально могли купить. Вот почему фото убрали

Столичную подземку перевели на зимний режим работы

Экспедиция к предкам. Любознательные подданные Российской империи, сфинксы у моста и «египетский чугун»

Экология в России и мире

Тайны мёда: врач Кутушов рассказал про целебные свойства и особенности нагревания

Спектакль «Волшебная лампа Аладдина»

Токсиколог Кутушов объяснил, почему хочется спать после обеда

Компания ICDMC и “Всероссийский пиар-саммит”: в поисках новых решений

Спорт в России и мире

Теннисная школа экс третьей ракетки мира Петровой открылась в Татарстане

Рыбакина узнала первую сопернику на Итоговом турнире WTA-2024

Елена Рыбакина вылетела на Итоговый турнир WTA

Елена Рыбакина провела первую тренировку на Итоговом турнире WTA

Moscow.media

Слушатель «Авторадио» едет в Абу-Даби на «Формулу-1»

По алфавиту: россияне стали чаще покупать украшения с буквами

Уральца будут судить по делу о крупном мошенничестве – от аферистов пострадала московская актриса

Рускеальский экспресс в осенней сказке.











Топ новостей на этот час

Rss.plus






Формируется самая передовая система кадровых сервисов

Силовики поймали мошенницу, которая выманила у пенсионера в Москве 3,5 миллиона

Юрист Бондаренко посоветовала не брать микрозаймы под залог квартиры, чтобы не лишиться недвижимости

Память жертв политических репрессий почтили в школе села Федино