Although female genital mutilation (FGM) is most commonly performed in Africa, where some 30 countries have subjected approximately 92 million girls to this practice, it is also an issue in Western countries. Parents from immigrant communities in countries including Germany, France and the United Kingdom are taking their young daughters abroad to subject them to FGM. Anecdotal evidence also points to it taking place in large European centers like London.
The United Nations has declared FGM, the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons, a gross human rights violation on account of the horrific consequences it has on its victims. Consequences of FGM include chronic pelvic infections, prolonged bleeding, difficulty urinating and pain during sexual intercourse. Complications during childbirth and obstetric fistula as a result of prolonged labor due to FGM can also occur.
It is estimated that half a million girls and women in Europe are currently suffering with the lifelong consequences of FGM. Somalia-born Leyla Hussein, who now lives in London, is one of them. She endured FGM in her birth country at the age of seven.
"All I could hear them say was, 'It's Leyla's turn, it's Leyla's turn.' And I just ran," she recalled. "They were chasing me for awhile before they could catch me. I could just hear this girl saying to me, 'We're just going to cut something off from your genitals, but it's going to make you perfect.' They said to me at the time that I wasn't going to feel it and that they were going to use anesthetic, but I felt every little thing that day."
It is estimated that some 20,000 girls in the UK could be subjected to FGM. Each year, 6,500 girls in central London alone could face FGM, making it the city with the highest number of girls at risk in Europe. Read the rest on:
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