I am furious! Since years, together with my Desert Flower Foundation, I demand the parents coming from countries where FGM is practiced shouldn’t be allowed to bring their little daughters to their home countries during school holidays.
As soon as school holidays in Europe begin, plenty of mothers and grandmothers traveling with their young daughters on airplanes to Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Djibouti, Istanbul, Abu Dhabi. I witnessed this myself several times on airports in Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich and Rome.
You never see a little boy travelling with them. How come? Wouldn’t the families in Africa like to see their grandsons?! On the plane I always try to speak to these families directly in order to discuss the problem of FGM, to explain to them that FGM is prohibited and to make clear they are not allowed to hurt their daughters in this way. Usually, they don’t want to speak about it or respond FGM is their right and tradition.
Last Friday, for the first time, the British police seized passports of two girls who were believed to be taken overseas for FGM. The same day, Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Tonge witnessed more than 50 little Somali girls who flew “on holiday” with their mothers or grandmothers on the plane from London to Addis Ababa. Baroness Tonge contacted immediately the Metropolitan Police. What was arguably the reason for this trip?! The police on the British airports, who should control families traveling with her daughters to these countries, didn’t notice this group. Now, the families will be checked on their return to England according to the passenger lists.
Today, the US organization Equality Now has published a study saying that 507 000 (!) girls are acute affected by FGM in the US. The British authorities believe alone in the UK 20 000-30 000 girls are threatened by FGM during summer holidays.
FGM isn’t still taken seriously enough. People practicing FGM are aware of that fact and will never stop performing this brutal crime without serious controls and bringing them to court!
LOVE,
Waris Dirie
Waris Dirie about FGM, VIDEO:
