Anti-FGM campaigner Hibo Wardere comes under attack

[JustTurtlesAllTheWayDown]

Again. I know Hibo has put out more than one video clarifying that her focus is on women and girls and on stopping FGM, but she did another one last night after being piled on and called a hater for not being 'inclusive' in her language.
mobile.twitter.com/HiboWardere/status/1362100744216866825
I am bloody angry about it this morning.
Hibo Wardere is a personal hero of mine for the amazing work she's done.
Attacking her for not focusing on other issues is the lowest of the low. The misogyny is rank.
(Also, if anyone hasn't got her book 'Cut' on their feminist book shelf, I really do recommend it. It's not an easy read but I found her journey incredibly inspiring).

[thinkingaboutLangCleg]

Demanding a hierarchy that places a remarkably influential, generally white group above some of the poorest girls / women of colour. Racist and completely unacceptable.

Worth repeating. How anyone takes these narcissists seriously is beyond me. But the harm they do is serious.

[DomesticatedZombie]

Thanks, have dug. Hope she gets to her target swiftly.

[Slothtoes]

Thank you so much Hibo Wardere and all the others who safeguard female children for all that you do in the face of this onslaught of misogyny. These days added to by this bunch of privileged men. How fucking galling it must be. What’s their real motivation?

Completely agree it’s because if one group of children being physically mutilated purely to fit in with one set of cultural mores is indefensible, then that indefensibility also goes (or it bloody well should!) for every group of children and every set of cultural mores.

And it’s worth noticing the massive entitlement behind the TRA tirades against this, which should be a red flag in themselves. Proponents can’t prove any objective benefit in health terms to those children that have been ‘operated on’ in either group. Because there isn’t any objective benefit. There are objectively proven serious and lifelong harms though. So the TRAs just shout and bully and call names at anyone looking closely and try to make unproven obscure scientific claims to justify what is happening.

And I’d imagine that they can’t stand the obvious comparisons, when the practice of FGM puts the cultural drivers of FGM quite rightly into the ‘some people believe… but that’s not the only important thing for society and the law to consider..’ sphere.

It’s absolute anathema to those advocating invasive and irreversible medications and ultimately surgery on distressed children and young people, removing key natural physical functions purely to give a different cosmetic appearance….to acknowledge that this arbitrary and lifelong-harmful intervention is every bit as blindly motivated by their cultural beliefs. Beliefs which in reality, everyone else is free to take or leave.

Obviously the belief in ‘gender confirmation’ physical interventions being the right thing to do may be every bit as sincerely held by TRAs, as those who support FGM sincerely hold their own views that FGM is the right thing to do.

The question is not whether the views are right or wrong, but whether everyone else in society needs to sit by and let the practical implications of those beliefs be legally performed on children or young people or not.

And the TRA’s entitlement and privilege means they’re able to get access and influence to law and try to influence social policy in a way that those who support FGM could never hope to gain in their wildest dreams for pro-FGM views in Northern Europe or America. Which really doesn’t fit in with the ‘most marginalised group in society ever’ trope.

So there are lots of reasons why TRAs desperately want to shut up Hibo Wardere. Her light shines so much wider than the girls and women affected by FGM, it also touches on lots of other issues that some people must feel are better kept unexamined.

Please keep going Hibo

[ScreamingMeMe]

Thanks Potholes

[PurgatoryOfPotholes]

If you recall this thread and you were furious on Hibo's behalf, please consider channelling your rage into a donation to her latest initiative to eliminate FGM. Sunday is International Day of Zero Tolerance Against FGM!

crowdfunder description

I've started an organisation called *Educate Not Mutilate (more details on that to follow!) with my friend Faiza and our first project will be holding awareness workshops for pupils, teachers and parents in schools across the Boroughs with the highest prevalence of FGM in London:

These are some of the most impoverished areas of London, where schools are bogged down with many social problems and tight budgets. That's why I'm hoping we can raise £5,000 to run free education workshops for already overstretched schools. This will help protect girls and young women from FGM while also starting to change the attitudes that allow this harmful practice to happen.

My tried and tested teaching format, which is inline with the educational curriculum, will address the following:

Students and parents
Types of FGM
Open discussion:
Is it religious?
Is it cultural?
Is it abuse
Short video
Q&A

Professionals.
Teachers.
Students.
Parents.
Health implications
Prevalence, the context and rise of FGM
Risk indicators / safeguarding
Mandatory reporting duty
Support pathways
Exploring concerns with and supporting students

About me

I, Hibo Wardere, am an educator and campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM). I experienced FGM in Somalia as a six year-old girl and understood from a young age that what had happened to me was deeply wrong. I later made her way to the UK as a refugee and embarked on a journey to educate myself and ultimately others, about FGM – the reason it happens and its impact on women and wider society. What I found was child abuse, deeply rooted in many cultures, often carried out in the name of religion and protected by Western societies that don’t want to interfere. My mission is to liberate the women and girls who have been harmed and are at risk of this practice by bringing an end to FGM.

*Educate Not Mutilate is currently a Constituted Community Group, soon be registered as a Charity

Link to get to it: //www.twitter.com/HiboWardere/status/1489388442043703299?t=tu-Uog9cgfRjjbt3G2JX4Q&s=19

[Barbarantia]

For the night time gardeners : bump

[ChazsBrilliantAttitude]

Bumping up. The garden is well planted but could use a few more veg.

[chilling19]

Donated

[PurgatoryOfPotholes]

£196 away from the goal!

twitter.com/HiboWardere/status/1491773589745459201?t=UVDmfUICOtr--_bAs_TMSg&s=19

[AgathaMystery]

Donated. I count Hibo as a friend and hero. If you can afford to have her come and speak at your organisation - do. She is absolutely excellent.