FGM is exported to the Western World.
I was six years old the day I was circumcised.
We had a big party at my house
and it was the day that my sister was going to be circumcised
and obviously I did not have a clue that I was not circumcised,
because usually, at six months old,
you're completely unaware of what's happening to you.
So I was seeing my sister, of six months old,
crying and shouting and blood's coming everywhere
while a lot of women were clapping and singing.
I was really not in the same mood as those women.
After my sister was circumcised, within the next five minutes,
I see everybody looking at me and I was like,
'Oh my God what's happening?'
and then my mother, with her eyes wide open,
she says,'Oh my God, I forgot to circumcise you!'
and she felt guilty about it.
She's like,'Oh, I need to save you now',
and I was so shocked, I didn't know what to say, what to do.
All I saw were those two big women coming towards me,
and my mother trying to hold me in her hands,
and they circumcised me on the spot.
Who decides?
It's not even for someone to decide, your destiny is to go through it.
FGM is not an Islamic practice, it's not anywhere in the Qur'an.
It's just one of the cultural things that they do.
It's not a religious thing, I want to highlight that,
it's very important, because a lot of people confuse the two.
Usually the typical circumcision event,
celebration in the village,
it happens in the bush with all the women,
but in all the cases, it happens at home.
It's definitely not a medical intervention
so it doesn't happen in hospital.
When you go through the circumcision, it's done without any anaesthetic.
You are fully aware of what's happening.
They took the razor blade and they just cut it
and you feel numb for one second
and then you feel this sharp pain
and there's nothing you can do about it, it's done.
After that I was like in a coma,
the pain just completely took over my body.
Basically, they think that FGM purifies little girls,
without that they won't get married.
I didn't know I was any different to anybody else.
It's only when I came to this country
and I realised, oh my God, I've been abused.
I think that the process of FGM violates women's rights
because it's basically pure discrimination
of women's freedom to enjoy natural, human desire.
We talk about human rights, but the right to live,
some girls die on the spot.
I'm just very strong, for me, any negative things that happen to me,
I change it to the positive.
I think, to convince these countries
and to make them aware that they're committing a violation of human rights,
is basically to have as many people, like me,
people that have been through it, people that are from that culture,
and do not deny that they are from that culture,
to speak out loud and to tell them,
'Listen, the world is different;
we have our good things, but this is not good'.
I am not pro for the Western World
to interfere in other people's problems and issues,
especially when it comes to politics,
but when it comes to human rights, basic human rights,
I think those girls need as many people as they can,
to fight for their rights.