According UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres 250 million women are affected by FGM worldwide today.
As a little girl, I myself suffered through this incredibly cruel torture in the Somali desert and nearly died.
I experienced extremely brutal physical and sexual violence against women in my family and in our country Somalia.
Born a girl, you are NOTHING in Africa.
You get beaten up, raped, mutilated and sometimes they buy or sell you and throw you away if your are no longer wanted.
They humiliate and break you, but after a while you learn to accept everything.
But I rebelled, I never accepted this misogynist society as a child, I fled from a forced marriage at the age of 13 and 20 years ago decided to start my mission against FGM and violence against women.
I support the #Metoo movement because it is necessary and right.
As a human rights activist, I have met many famous people, Hollywood stars, Nobel Prize winner, supermodels, Olympic champions and top politicians who have patted my shoulder congratulating me for my bravery.
But it ended there.
About 600 million women and girls live in Africa and half of them are under fifteen!
They, too, have a right not to be forgotten. They deserve to be helped and rescued from the vicious cicle of violence and disrespect.
As an African woman, I call on behalf of every woman in Africa and of all women in the Third World who are daily victims of cruel physical and sexual violence and who have no lobby in Hollywood:
Please do not forget us!
#Wetoo
