A powerful interview with a lovely young woman about FGM

Thanks for the reply Babdoc. I felt like I was in a wilderness here!

That's a really good point - thinking outside the box there! Clearly it's governments that we'd need to petition in Somalia for example in order to make it against the law. Good way of thinking about it!

It's very much a feminist issue and one that I think the women involved will need to change. I wouldn't be depending on men to do anything about it. It's their idea in the first bloody place!

Anyone who speaks out about it is very brave as, she says she was receiving death threats for speaking about it. Presumably from the African community (read MEN) in Ireland.

I think there needs to be a grass roots movement, so someone like this woman, who is actually from there, might be listened to by the women in society, more than a foreigner. I will google Waris.

It seems they women themselves know that it's wrong, as Ifra mentions talking to the other refugees she was travelling with and they knew enough not to want to mention it in Ireland.

I should mention for the context of the interview, that I think it's the format that Tommy doesn't know who he'll be interviewing, so he's going in blind - if some of you were wondering why he seemed to be asking stupid questions.

When I think about it, Ireland was so behind Europe and the UK on so many things, just 30-40 years ago (contraception, divorce, homosexuality, abortion to name but a few), but we have managed to drag ourselves out of the dark ages somehow, so there is some hope that change is possible. I think that is in part as a result of the Irish diaspora bringing their 'modern' ideas home and normalising a different way of life. Obviously, probably the main factor was us beginning to question the authority of the Catholic Church - which they actually facilitated themselves by the horrors they were responsible for. There were also a lot of very strong educated women speaking out. Our first female president, Mary Robinson, was an avid feminist. But it took time.

I don't know how far away from that a country with war which is a Muslim country might be from embracing change, but if Ireland could do it, then it's not entirely impossible.

Just last week actually, thanks to the legislation she helped to bring in in Ireland, 2 parents were the first in Ireland to be jailed for FGM under the new legislation. That sounds like a good deterrent to others in Ireland who might wish to do the same. As she said, if she can save one girl.. I suppose that's where you have to start. Baby steps.

Yes, she explains quite well, how difficult for her even as a native Somali woman to try to get through to people as it's so embedded in their culture. They told her to go back to Ireland!

8 years old though, with not even 2 paracetamol? Holy heavens.

She mentions the Ifra foundation which I will donate to. Sounds like she takes a very hands-on approach, dealing with individual cases where the girls are bleeding for hours or whatever.

It seems such an insurmountable task!

Off topic, but she's a wonderful ambassador for refugees.