It may have been decades since the privacy and sanctity of my femininity was breached and violated without my consent , I still live the consequences today and unless technology intervenes, probably for the rest of my life. The pain of seeing a mother loved-up with her child, knowing you cannot experience the biology of birthing yours is one that cuts so deep.
But the truth is, as bad as you may think my situation is, I’m among the lucky ones. Because a good number of African women who went through this process like I did came off worse- they died! Some immediately and others depression and then death.
“Ms Deborah, it’s time” she said with a supportive smile and how badly I needed that!
“You make them listen!” she added.
My legs felt a little wobbly as I step onto the stage of the WHO headquarters in Geneva to deliver a speech on the dangers of Female Genital Mutilation and it’s harsh reality on African women.
Surprised? You ought not be. Hard as my reality is now concerning child bearing, other women have had it worse and I plan to do something to protect the future generations of African women who is likely to be subjected to this same ordeal. And like Mrs Smith advised, I plan to make these people listen.
” The Female Genital Mutilation isn’t just an invasion of the female body, it’s also a sin against women and must be stopped” I started, as the microphone screeched under some kind of interference. You may have heard about how dangerous and detrimental it is in documentaries, read about it in the papers, but I have lived it. My name is Ms Deborah Solomon. I lost my baby during childbirth as a result of
the Female Genital Mutilation done on me as an infant and because of those complications, I was told that it’s impossible for me to birth a child. My husband divorced me afterwards and married another woman because according to him “he is an only child and can’t let his family linage end with him”. I’m a women’s rights activists. I represent a community of women who cannot speak for themselves, and this is our story…..
