A Somalian father has defended FGM , Dahir Nur’s daughter died of massive blood loss on the 17th of July justtwo days after being taken to a traditional circumciser.
He said to Voice of America (VOA) “people in the area are content” with FGM even considering the dangers, adding it is the country’s “culture”.
According to Unicef, 98% of girls and women in Somalia have undergone FGM but in the West, most consider it a violent and barbaric treatment and you can be prosecuted for taking your child to get it done despite prosecutions being extremely rare.
Technically Somalia’s constitution prohibits the practice but it is not outlawed.
According to the BBC a victim of FGM has previously stated: “I prayed to die’ after FGM aged six, says victim”
Dr Abdirahman Omar Hassan, director of Hanano hospital in the city of Dhusamareb, told VoA he had never seen “anyone who was mutilated like that in my life”.
Dr Hassan, who was on the team who tried to save the girl, revealed she had caught tetanus, he said it was most likely from the unsterilised equipment used during the original procedure.
But Mr Nur said he did not want to pursue charges as he holds no one accountable for his daughter’s death.
Hawa Aden Mohamed, director of women’s rights group Galkayo Education Center for Peace and Development (GECPD) said:
“The woman who performed the operation has not been arrested but even if she was, there is no law that would ensure she is punished for the act,” she told news agency Reuters. This is just one among many cases happening on a daily basis across Somalia.”
Efforts to criminalise FGM has been stopped for the foreseeable future by Somalian politicians who fear it will lose them votes from their strongly religious constituents.
The BBC reported that “while girls who have not undergone it are reportedly taunted for not being cut.”
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