Female Genital Mutilation

The Pain We Don’t Always See

There are things that happen to a girl that she may never find the words to describe. Things that change her life before she is even old enough to understand what is happening to her.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is one of them.

In some communities, it is a tradition passed down from generation to generation. For some families, it is considered a necessary step towards becoming a woman, a condition for marriage, or a way of preserving cultural identity.

But behind these beliefs, there is often a girl who has not been asked what she wants. A girl who has no real choice.

Female genital mutilation involves cutting or injuring the external female genital organs for reasons that are not medical. It has no health benefits. It can cause severe pain, bleeding, infections and complications later in life, including during childbirth. For some women, the emotional effects last just as long as the physical ones.

And yet, understanding why the practice continues matters. Many families do not see themselves as harming their daughters. They may believe they are protecting them from rejection or helping them secure a future in a society where girls who have not undergone FGM can face stigma. This does not make the practice acceptable, but it helps explain why change requires more than condemnation.

The voices of girls and women must be at the centre of that change. Survivors deserve to be listened to without judgment, to receive respectful healthcare and psychological support, and to decide for themselves whether, when and how to tell their stories.

Prevention also means working with parents, teachers, community leaders, healthcare professionals and young people. It means creating safe spaces where questions can be asked openly, where harmful expectations can be challenged and where families can choose a different path without fear of exclusion.

Education plays a powerful role. When girls know their rights and have opportunities to study, work and become economically independent, they are better placed to shape their own futures. When boys and men take part in these conversations, responsibility for change no longer rests on women alone.

We should also remember that no culture or community is defined by a single practice. Across the world, many women, men and local organisations have been working for years to end FGM, often at considerable personal risk. Their courage deserves recognition and support.

At its heart, this is about something simple: every girl has the right to grow up safe, to live in her own body without violence, and to make decisions about her life.

Ending female genital mutilation will not happen through silence, shame or blame. It will happen through listening, education, protection and the steady conviction that tradition should never come before a child’s well-being.

No girl should have to suffer to be accepted. No girl should have to lose part of herself to belong.