Telegraph: Why the key to ending FGM lies in the hands of women
“When Ms Alfon was a girl, she longed to be cut like her friends, but her mother wouldn’t let her go through with it. It wasn’t until, at the age of 13, when charity ActionAid came to her school to discuss the risks and realities of FGM and its link to HIV, did she change her mind.
ActionAid explained how the cutting of genital tissues with the same surgical instrument without sterilisation could increase the risk for transmission of HIV between girls who undergo female genital mutilation together.
It was after this realisation that Ms Alfons came to understand why her mother had taken such a fierce stance against her own cutting.
“When I got home I was so eager to share with my mum about what I learnt in school,” said Ms Alfons. “I told her what happened and she actually broke into tears.”
Unbeknown to Ms Alfons, her father had lost his life trying to protect her from the cut when she was just a baby. The elders of their village insisted that she undergo the ceremony and when her father refused, he was killed.”
