Abdia against FGM
The courage to change a community
In Isiolo County in Kenya lives Abdia Gaudi. She is 45 years old, a single mother of four children and a survivor of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
She told us: “I was six years old when I underwent this practice. At the time no one had explained to me what it really was. In my community it was thought to be something normal, something that every girl had to go through. My sisters and I were all taken together. My father was against it, he was afraid that something serious might happen to us. But my mother said that it would be shameful if girls had not undergone FGM. And so it happened.”
Many years later, thanks to a friend, Abdia met ActionAid. She decided to take part in training meetings on the effects of female genital mutilation and, for the first time, began to ask herself whether what she and her sisters had experienced was really right.
“After gaining new information, I felt the need to talk about it within my family. My brother initially reacted with anger, but then he listened to me. I explained to him that FGM has nothing to do with religion and that it is a harmful practice. Today my brother has three daughters and none of them has undergone female genital mutilation.”
A change for the whole community
“At the beginning it was not easy to expose myself publicly. As a woman, I was often told to keep quiet. But thanks to the support of ActionAid I found the courage to move forward.”
Today Abdia is a recognized leader of her community. She speaks with families, young people and local leaders about the effects of FGM, because she knows this practice can cause severe bleeding, infections, complications during pregnancy and childbirth, and in some cases death.
“Once almost all the girls in the community underwent this practice. Today more and more families choose to protect their daughters. It is a concrete change, built together.
My dream is that one day female genital mutilation will end completely. I know that it depends on education and on the involvement of women and men. Today I know that what I experienced was not destiny. And I know that, together, we can protect other girls.”
