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PLEASE Protect Your Daughters!




Say NO to All Forms of Female Genital Mutilation!!

The Wrath of God









In my opinion, it is worse than death!

It is the parents who inflict this calamity on their children. They pray for peace and deliverance, yet they continue to practice this barbaric ritual! What kind of society and future are they expecting?





Love A. Light

The "Guaranteed" Virgins* Society











Membership is Open to All Who Underwent the "Cut."








* (Until the Wedding Night, Of Course.)

Love and Trust; Fear and Desperation












United by Suffering






The brain-damaged Mother laments, "I wish my daughter did not have to experience the suffering that I went through. If I don't agree to her Gudniin, no one will marry her! My hands are tied, I cannot go against my culture."


And so, the cycle of Torture continues.

Real Lives: Ending FGM in Somaliland









http://www.healthpovertyaction.org/on-t ... omaliland/








Fadumo Jama Hassan, a 60 year old grandmother, used to work as a female circumciser, or ‘cutter’, in the Sahil region of Somaliland. She started her career back in 1970s and has conducted female genital mutilation (FGM) on more girls than she can count.





“When I started this, the tool of choice was a curved nail – more recently this was later replaced by imported razor blades.”





Fadumo used to use unclean and unsterilized equipment to do the cutting and, like other female circumcisers, she believed that the practice of FGM was a good thing – an uncircumcised girl would not be able to socialise or live in her community with dignity without undergoing the procedure.

In 2011, she attended a training workshop organised by Health Poverty Action with other community elders, religious leaders and medical professionals. During the training it was emphasised that the practice of FGM had no place in the Islamic religion, and that the health effects of FGM were particularly harmful – it is one of the main causes of maternal death and complications during pregnancy.

The problem for cutters like Fadumo, was that the procedure was how they made a living.




“The cutters used to ask me, ‘What we will do for a living if we stop female genital cutting?’. Apparently workshops only will not change much if there is no income generating alternative for the cutters. The circumcisers will not leave their job because they are simply asked to leave.”




Health Poverty Action noted that traditional cutters like Fadumo, were often the same women who conducted home deliveries without sterile equipment, medical training or access to essential drugs. These women also held a prominent position within their communities, with a significant ability to influence others.

In order to improve health within the region of Sahil, Health Poverty Action recognised that Fadumo and her colleagues would need to earn an alternative income for these unsafe procedures to stop, and for communities to use the safer health services made available by Health Poverty Action and the Somaliland Ministry of Health.

This was when the new role of a Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA) came about. TBAs help to identify when a woman in labour needs further health services but they are also a useful source of health knowledge within their communities.

Since 2011, Health Poverty Action has enrolled over 60 former ‘cutters’ into TBA training in the region of Sahil, including Fadumo, completely transforming their roles from one which put the lives of women and children at risk, to one which now promotes health.

The TBAs were first trained on the harmful effects their current practices had on reproductive health. They then received further training on maternal health, including recognising danger signs during labour. And they were also issued a referral book and mobile phone so that they could liaise with the local health services.

All 60 TBAs have also committed to no longer carry out harmful local practices and as a form of income generation, each TBA receives a small cash incentive for every delivery case that they refer to a health facility.

Regarding her new role, Fadumo said:




“I am happy, the new idea that Health Poverty Action and the Ministry of Health have collaborated on has changed our role into birth promoters, rather than doing unsafe deliveries at home and doing the female genital cutting at the same time.”

Life doesn't have to be filled with pain and misery.

LoveandLight wrote:Welcome to Deep Sh*t, Somalia!

My balls hurt every time I see your name

I want to thank SimplySerene for speaking to the SomaliNet Administrators about my return to the forums (I was banned for almost three and a half months). I will continue my vital advocacy work, God Willing.



LoveandLight the Liberator