A YOUNG SOMALIAN woman living in Dublin has organised a fashion event aimed at promoting awareness of female genital mutilation (FGM).
Ifrah Ahmed – who fled her war-torn country in 2006 and has refugee status in Ireland – suffered the gruesome procedure, which is believed to have affected up to 140 million women and girls, according to World Health Organisation estimates.
FGM is most common in Africa, and is particularly prevalent in Egypt, Sudan, Mali and Ethiopia.
The procedure involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia, performed at any age between infancy and adolescence to ensure girls’ future ‘chastity’ or to comply with local ‘tradition’.
FGM is not obligatory in Islam, where it is a source of disagreement among scholars.
AkiDwA, the African Women’s Network in Ireland, has estimated that 2,500 women living in Ireland suffered FGM in their home countries. Long-term health consequences can include loss of sexual pleasure, complicated birthing, abnormal menstrual pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to Ahmed, a fashion event in Dublin on Friday 28 May intended to showcase African costumes will also provide a forum to raise awareness of FGM, with speakers from AkiDwA and Amnesty International scheduled.
The event will take place at the Dublin Central Mission on Lower Abbey Street from 5.30pm, and has been publicised through Facebook.
Ahmed said many African men had also been showing support for the event, and added that FGM is known to affect relationships due to the health complications experienced by women, such as painful intercourse.
She said it is common for young African women who’ve suffered FGM to be “scared” about approaching their GP, but she said they should remember “this is not something we have done to ourselves”.
Referencing a recent article in Metro Éireann, where an Islamic representative in Dublin was quoted as supporting the removal of “a bit” of the clitoris, Ahmed said “whether it is a small bit or a big bit doesn’t make any difference” as it is “wrong”.
Ahmed, who is a Muslim, said she’d received telephone calls from private numbers advising her not to proceed with the awareness event, which was “frightening”. However, she added that she did not believe she was going against her religion.
It was recently announced that Health Minister Mary Harney would introduce the heads of a bill to ban FGM, with the legislation expected to criminalise the act of sending girls to parental countries for the procedure.
