FORWARD News and UpdatesOver the coming months, FORWARD will implement a national youth research programme which will investigate trends in opinion and attitudes of young men and women from FGM-practicing communities towards the practice of FGM. This youth-led research project will be the first of its kind and responds to recommendations from FORWARD’s 2007 research: “A Statistical Study to Estimate the Prevalence of FGM in England and Wales.” In our Africa Programme we will be replicating the East Africa Project on advancing health and rights of African girls in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. We would like to say a huge THANK YOU and CONGRATULATIONS to our supporter Nagla Naguib who in taking part in the Turbo Triathlon has already raised over £5,000. Please help Nagla by pledging your support at http://www.justgiving.com/naglanaguib2 I had my circumcision done when I was 6 years old and this is how it happened: On a sunny afternoon in Djibouti (East Africa), my house was beautifully decorated and full of gifts and kids playing around. The occasion was "my 6 months old sister's circumcision celebration". A pain cry reads as a sharp scream followed by a brief period where my sister stops breathing. She was circumcised. I burst in tears, while other women were singing out loud. Suddenly, my mother turned to me, so did the three gipsy women that circumcised my sister. My mother looked dazed as she remembered that I was never circumcised. It was my time then and there. As my mother came closer to me, followed by the three witches, I was becoming aware of what I was going to endure and the more aware I became, the more unconscious I felt. I was thrown on the bed; legs open and tighten to each corner of the bed. Two women held each of my arms firmly; my mother had her eyes closed and her hands on my racing heart. The third gipsy cut part of my clitoris (Type I) and put a transparent recipient in front of me. I was bleeding like a fountain. She then wrapped me like a mummy with some white sheets. All of this happened without local anaesthetic! - Nagla's story We are also extremely delighted to congratulate our Patron Baroness Joyce Gould upon her appointment as permanent Chair of the Women’s National Commission. Baroness Gould has been a tireless supporter of FORWARD and women’s rights. |
