Admin Posted August 5, 2015 A concerned 16-year-old Somali girl has taken to Reddit to share her concerns over a planned family trip to Somalia. The heartbreaking post explains that her father will be taking her and her siblings on a trip to experience their native heritage, but the anonymous poster is concerned about her safety in a country that is "currently in a civil war with a terror group calling the shots." User Throwawayyyyy1738 wrote: "Long story short, in 10 days my dad will be taking my sis and brothers to a country in Africa where 98% of women have suffered from FGM. As a 16 year old who doesn't want their vagina mutilated, I'm sooooooo effing scared." "My mom had it done and I wouldn't be surprised if she ok'd this. My only shining light is that both my parents work in health care so i'm hoping that they see the negatives in doing this. "I haven't asked my parents about this and I'm not sure how to go about it. I don't want them to be offended of me asking if they are against it, but I also don't want to find out if it is in their plans because I don't know what I would do." Hundreds of Reddit users rallied together to offer the teen advice, with one sharing her experience of travelling to Somalia for FGM, but managing to avoid it after her parents disagreed on the issue. Others shared tips and advice for how to get authorities involved without rousing her parents' suspicions. The poster returned to the Reddit thread to update users, confirming that her parents are "super religious" followers of Islam, but further elaborated upon the reasons for her concern. She wrote: "If my parents want something to be done, they would stop at nothing and the law wouldn't deter them. I'm sure they love me, but Somalis have been brainwashed to think that FGM makes a girl pure for her husband. It's sick, but it's the culture." The worried teen also returned to the thread to say she'd spoken to her mother, but still had concerns about the trip. "She told me that we have never visited their home and that my dad so desperately wants to visit relatives he hasn't seen in years. I then casually brought up the fact that many of our relatives support FGM and I asked whether she feared one of my aunts would have me get it done. "She started to say that no woman has the right to do anything to me without their consent and that my dad would never allow it to happen. I pushed on this and asked why and the truth came out. When my mom got it when she was young, her vagina became infected and she only had isopropyl alcohol and anaesthesia. "She explained that her case was more severe, but she has no ill-will towards her mother for making her do it because of how the culture is. I finally asked her why she said it's wasn't a big deal when it came on the news and she said she didn't mean that FGM is not a big deal, but the news is making it a bigger deal than it seems. "She explained that nowadays it only happens in the rural parts of Somalia and so she figured the news was sensationalising it." The teenager hasn't returned to the thread with an update since. In the UK, it is estimated that 23,000 girls under 15 could be at risk of FGM according to the NSPCC. Since June 2013, they have received over 700 contacts about FGM. Plan, a charity whose 'Because I am a Girl' campaign is committed to ended FHM by 2030, reported that more than 130 million girls and woman alive today have undergone FGM. Their chief executive, Tanya Barron, said: ""The growing realisation of the scale of FGM in the UK is a reminder of the need to ensure that we continue to work hard at every level to tackle the problem. "But in doing so, we must remember that FGM is not exclusively a UK problem. It is a global problem – and it needs a global solution. The complex causes of a practice like this are not specific to this country, and so we simply won't end FGM in the UK without it ending across the world." Source: http://i.huffpost.com/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nin-Yaaban Posted August 7, 2015 Well, that was very interesting. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dhagax-Tuur Posted August 7, 2015 This is fear mongering in a grand scale. I am sure that we, somalis, have started movements, mainly religious, who were campaigning for the eradication of this practice. That is not to say that the practice doesn't occur at all. But, I can't stand this Western crusade on culturally duped and ill educated folks who would be better off educated and informed rather than threatened. This is now in-your-face every newspaper in London. They'are desperately trying to persecute the 'first' parent/family for this, with the help of fame-hungry xalimos used as token. Gabadha yarta ahi has every right to be worried, but as her mother said to her, 'there's no reason to worry as no one would force her against her will.' I wouldn't want this for anyone, least of all, my close family, but let's educate, specially, from the point of view of Islam, as this is un-islamic, pure and simple. We'll get somewhere with that, rather than threatening these folks. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gooni Posted August 8, 2015 I think she cross the lane she is sixteen, traditions will not open her legs in that age Just making fun to promote her gold to the western media Dhaqankaan wax yeeladiisa dadku wuu soo fahmayaa diin ahaan wuuna iska suuli doonaa balse reer galbeedka xoolo badan baa uga baxay soomaalida siduu meelahaas xasaasigaa wax uga ogaan lahaa. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bilan Posted August 10, 2015 Bs, she is too old, she should have said her parents are marrying her off to 60 year old man, that being said fgm is not a joke and any parents who subjects their children to this cruel practice especially those who are in the west deserve severe punishment, they do not even deserve to be called parents. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bluelicious Posted August 10, 2015 Parents especially the father should protect his daughter from danger and harm and not be the one to inflict upon her. A daughter is a fathers princess and his gateway to paradise. The fathers who are loving kind and compassionate towards their daughter never do that. It's always the harsh unloving careless ones. The men who are pro FGM lacked love from their mothers and now express their hate for women through their cruel practices on their daughters. These kind of parents don't deserve children. They don't think of the psychological consequences. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
somalia4somalis Posted August 11, 2015 Ah! Somali women becoming famous by either using FGM or insulting islam. Xalimos try new ways to become famous! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
