Mary Mc
campaign to end female genital mutilation after fleeing war-torn Somalia in 2006.
Somalia is one of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa. For roughly a century, the area has been poverty stricken but in more recent times, issues in the country have relieved somewhat as a result of new found stability in the region and increased foreign aid. Female Genital Mutilation is a state-wide crime perpetrated against young girls usually between the ages of 5 to 11. It is so pervasive, that 98% of all girls and women in Somalia, are believed to have endured this horror.
The worldwide pandemic Covid19, forced the problem further into the shadows with enforced isolation and perpetrators of the act being able to segregate their victims usually in their own homes. Families, usually matriarchs, believed that as they had suffered the crime, so too should their daughters. Religious and cultural norms upheld deeply held beliefs that this act was normal and should be accepted.