The Somali FGM activist Ifrah Ahmed in Dublin.
It was when the phone started ringing with calls from worried mothers in Somalia that Ifrah Ahmed knew she was making an impact. The women told her their daughters had been bleeding for hours after undergoing female genital mutilation and asked what to do. Ahmed told them to seek medical attention, and probably saved lives by doing so.
The mothers called because they had heard the story of a 10-year-old girl who had bled to death after being cut in central Galmudug state in July 2018. It was the first confirmed death in years in a country where any complications arising from FGM are generally denied and it gained worldwide attention. The death was first revealed by a local activist who had been trained by Ahmed’s foundation in how to use the media to publicise her work.
Covid has placed millions more girls at risk of FGM as families have turned back to the practice during lockdowns. It has also resurfaced in countries, including Cameroon, where it had been largely abandoned. The procedure is performed for a number of reasons. In some communities it is a prerequisite for marriage; culture and religion are also used to justify it.
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