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STORY: SOMALIA / FGM
TRY: 3.10
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SOMALI/NATS
DATELINE: 11-12 DECEMBER 2012, BOROMA, SOMALILAND REGION, SOMALIA
1. Various shots, Kheiriya Abdi walking with ‘Woman to Woman’ group coordinator
2. Wide shot of Kheiriya Abdi walking passed the camera
3. Various shots, ‘Woman to Woman’ group taking to Kheiriya Abdi
4. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Kheiriya Abdi, 10 years old
“I do not want to be circumcised because of the problems you face afterwards. I don’t want any part of my body to be cut”
5. Med shot, women going to Fadhumo Abdi’s home to meet ‘Woman to Woman’ group facilitators
6. Wide shot ‘Woman to Woman’ group discussing FGM/C issues with other women in Boroma community
7. Various shots, Woman to Woman’ group convincing Fadhumo Abdi spare her last born girl from circumcision
8. Close up, Fadhumo‘s last born girl
9. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Fadhumo Abdi, Mother of seven:
“I have cut two of my daughters the Sunni way. This is Najah my youngest daughter, since they have told us to stop the cutting girls whether it is Fircoon or Sunni. I will not cut her and she will be spared from the problems associated with circumcision”
10. Various shots, members ‘Woman to Woman’ group teaching girls the problems associated with FGM/C
20. Various shots, of Fadhumo Abdillahi answering a question
21. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Fadhumo Abdillahi, Class eight pupil
“When a girl is cut this makes her to experience problems like excessive bleeding, difficulty when giving birth and other health problems. Personally, my kidney pains and I feel pain when urinating.”
22. Wide shot, people walking at Quljeed market, in Boroma
23. Various shots, girls
25. Wide shot, Sheikh Yahya, reading Quran in a Mosque
26. Close up, Sheikh hands on the Quran
27. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Sheikh Yahya, Islamic scholar:
“This practice of cutting and stitching of girls is not a religious belief, even prophet Mohamed did not cut his daughters and nobody practiced it, where he lived. Therefore, mothers should be more sensitive and should not think it is a sin if they do not cut their daughters.”
28. Wide shot, women walking outskirts of Boroma town
29. Various shots, youth staging dramas against FGM/C at Quljeed market
30. Tilt up, from various food stuffs being sold at the market to the women faces watching the drama
31. Med shot, youth acting drama
32. Various shots, pregnant mother attending antenatal clinic
36. Various shots, member of ‘woman to woman’ group talking to the girls
38. Wide shot, ‘woman to woman’ group member talking to Hadiyo Dukale, FGM/C practitioner
39. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hadiyo Dukale, FGM/C Practitioner:
“When the Non Governmental Organisations come, they called us for seminars and told us to stop the practice but I told them, this is how we earn our living, we cannot stop. People come and take us up those mountains and in the towns to cut girls. We get paid and we use the money to bring up our children”
42. Wide shot, ‘woman to woman ‘ group walking passed a group of girls
44. Various shots, woman to woman’ in homestead, meeting community women
46. Wide shot, woman walking away from the camera with her daughter
Ten-year-old Kheiriya Abdi from Boorama town in north-west Somalia often faces ridicule and insults at school simply because she is not circumcised. A few months ago she was rescued from the razor blades by a group of community facilitators trained to encourage communities to recognize that female circumcision, or cutting as it is known is a violation of a girl's rights.
Kheiriya is scared of being circumcised, but the pressure at school and at home home is mounting everyday and she says her friends have deserted her. This is a common stigma suffered by many uncircumcised girls in Somalia. The facilitators keep encouraging her to remain strong.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Kheiriya Abdi, uncircumcised girl:
“I do not want to be circumcised because of the problems you face afterwards. I don’t want any part of my body to be cut and also I don’t want to see my blood flow”
The ‘Woman-to-Woman’ group visits mothers in the region to discuss complications relating to the cutting that they themselves have faced. The women encourage the community to collectively abandon the practice. Today, the group is visiting Fadhumo Abdi a mother of three daughters. Two of her daughters were circumcised and the women are here to try to convince her to protect her last-born girl.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Fadhumo Abdi, mother of seven:
“I have cut two of my daughters the Sunni way. This is Najah my youngest daughter, since they have told us to stop the cutting girls whether it is Fircoon or Sunni. I will not cut her and she will be spared from the problems associated with circumcision.”
At Quljeed village 30km northwest of Boorama, the ‘Woman-to-Woman’ facilitators are holding an education session for schoolgirls. Using the diagrams they show different types of cutting and how each will affect them later in life. The women also distribute pamphlets to the girls with detailed information of about procedures, which are usually undertaken when the girls are between 10 and 14.
So far, ‘Woman-to-Woman’ group have reached school going girls in the region. These school sessions are intended to help the girls understand the problems associated with cutting in the hope that they will abandon the practice in future when they themselves become parents. However the girls who have undergone it are already experiencing difficulties
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Fadhumo Abdillahi, student:
“When a girl is cut this makes her to experience problems like excessive bleeding, difficulty when giving birth and other health problems. Personally, my kidney pains and I feel pain when urinating.”
Female circumcision is one of the most acute abuses suffered by the children in Somalia. The practice is deeply entrenched in Somali culture with the belief that it ensures a girl’s proper marriage, chastity and family honour. Families also believe it to be a religious obligation. The campaign against cutting in Somalia has brought in religious scholars and leaders to emphasize that religion does not support the cutting of body parts.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Sheikh Yahya, Islamic scholar:
“This practice of cutting and stitching of girls is not a religious belief, even prophet Mohamed did not cut his daughters and nobody practiced it, where he lived. Therefore, mothers should be more sensitive and should not think it is a sin if they do not cut their daughters.”
The campaign to abandon the practice is reaching remote parts of Somaliland.
UNICEF Partner, African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect has used plays at hospitals and market places to sensitize people on the dangers of the practice and to change the long-held cultural beliefs that sustain it.
UNICEF is also working with the health workers to target mothers who come for antenatal care and treatment. In the process of treatment the nurses discuss medical complications associated with cutting.
It appears that this campaign is having an impact.
The campaign also targets those who carry out the procedure explaining the harm it does to the girls. However for many practitioners it provides a crucial source of income.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hadiyo Dukale, Practitioner
“When the non governmental Organisations come, they called us for seminars and told us to stop the practice but I told them this is how we earn our living we cannot stop. People come and take us up the mountains and in the town we cut them and in return given money we use this money to bring up our children”
The leadership in the country supports the campaign against cutting. However as it is carried out in private homes it is difficult to monitor. In reality there is little protection for girls who suffer from these harmful practices. UNICEF and its partners have established local groups to help the communities make an informed and collective choice to abandon it. This is a slow process but getting the support of the local community is the only way to safeguard the future of the girls.
