From: mark@uctvax.uct.ac.za
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: Re: Clitoridectomy / African Culture
Date: 11 Nov 92 16:22:03 +0200
Organization: University of Cape Town



WARNING:  What follows are the accounts of three women who underwent
          "female circumcision", in Somalia.

If you are squeamish, or may be appalled by the graphic accounts 
given, please do not read them!  They are clearly taken out of the
context of the book, which I suggest you obtain and read if you are
interested in the subject.

Otherwise I apologise for the length, and the typo's.  I did not have
time to "edit" the accounts, nor to "proof-read" them.

They are extracted from the book "Sisters in Affliction, Circumcision 
and Infibulation of Women in Africa" by Raqiya Haji Dualeh Abdalla,
Zed Press, London, 1982. [p105, Appendix 1: Three Case Studies].
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Appendix 1: Three Case Studies

1 Fadumo

Fadumo, a 45 year old widow with four children has been
working as a cleaner in one of the government agencies.
Fadumo has no formal education. Both her parents were nomads
and she was born and bred in the rural areas. She settled in
the town after her husband died 10 years ago. She was
married at the age of 14 to a nomad and had six children,
four of whom are still living, two daughters and two sons.

When asked if she still remembered the circumcision
operation, she retorted: 'How can I forget such an ordeal? I
remember everything as if it happened yesterday.'

Asked to give the details,, she said, 'Circumcision is a
common practice for Somali girls and I was expecting it when
it was my turn. Little girls always look forward to this
operation since they learn about it early in life.' She went
on, 'I knew about the event two days earlier and was feeling
happy and excited until the eve of the operation when I felt
worried and could not sleep well the whole night.

'It was an early, cool morning that the circumcision took
place. I was the first one to be circumcised among the three
[Fadumo was circumcised with 2 older girls of her family]
because I was the youngest and my mother did not want me to
see what would happen to the other girls. Girls are not
supposed to be cowards according to the nomadic custom and
should tolerate the pain but unfortunately I could not stand
the severe pain of the circumcision. I screamed when the
woman performed the operation and cut my clitoris and ran
away bleeding before she could sew me with the thorns.l My
mother and the midwife caught me and all the women around
held me tight and pressed me down until the woman operator
finished sewing me up.'

When asked what kind of instruments had been used for the
cutting and sewing of the operation, she recalled that a
sharp knife was used for cutting and as customary, thorns
were used for joining up the two sides of the wound. Also
she reported that certain traditional herbs were used for
the treatment of the wound. In the rural areas, she said:
'They always dig a hole in the ground, light a fire and burn
certain herbs and circumcised girls sit over it. It helps
the wound become dry and also its aromatic smell kills the
unpleasant odour of urine and blood.'

Fadumo recalled that she bled for three days, the bleeding
was stopping and starting until her mother decided to take
her to the nearest village clinic (Out-patient clinic). She
said, 'My mother remained with me in that village for about
two weeks, where we stayed with some relatives until I was
able to go back to the nomadic area with my mother. My
mother was nursing me all the time and the village male
nurse came to check on me every second day. I was fed with
special foods during the time I was sick in order to make up
for my lost blood. I was given liver, milk and meat.'

Fadumo was then asked about her experiences during her
wedding. She replied: 'I was afraid and worried about
everything because I was young, and my father made all the
arrangements for my marriage to a man 20 years older than
myself. Later I discovered that he had given a large number
of camels to my family as a bride-price.' 'I suffered a lot
during my wedding time. The custom in my region was, and
still is, that the man defibulates his bride. My husband
used a knife to cut the infibulation and when I tried to run
away and struggled, he accidentally cut the sides of my legs
and the whole area was messed up with blood. I lost a lot of
blood and then developed a constant fever and my vagina
became swollen. I was terribly sick when my mother came and
took me home. After that I was taken to Galkaayo Hospital
(the nearest town to us) where I stayed for a week.

'My family decided to keep me with them until I regained my
strength and grew mature enough for the marriage burden and
responsibilities. I stayed with them for two complete years
before they took me back to my husband.

'After I stayed with my husband for two nights of painful
intercourse and fear, I decided to run away and I went back
to my family. I did not listen to all their persuasions and
did not go back. This time also I was separated from my
husband for about another two years. At the age of 18 years,
I was returned to my husband, still against my will. When I
stayed there for a few weeks, tolerating my dislike of the
man and his sexual desires, for the sake of pleasing my
family, I discovered that I was pregnant and I stayed with
him and stopped running away.'

Fadumo was asked if she enjoyed her sexual relations with
her husband after that. She replied with obvious disgust: 'I
do not remember ever enjoying such a relationship. Even when
the pain and difficult times were over, I used to feel
terribly frightened. I always used to submit to it out of
duty and just to have children.'

Fadumo said that each pregnancy resulted in prolonged
labour, sometimes for two days, and each time she suffered
some infection. All her children were born at home in the
rural areas with the assistance of a traditional midwife.

Both Fadumo's daughters were circumcised and infibulated at
the age of eight and nine years. She said, 'Although I had
suffered so much because of circumcision, it is a
traditional custom and I had to have it done. '

Fadumo, when she was asked why women are circumcised said
that it is shameful not to be circumcised and men derive
pleasure only from circumcised women. 'Of course, no woman
can marry without circumcision in our country. I heard only
recently that non-Muslim women are not circumcised, but I
have not heard of any people in Somalia who do not
circumcise their daughters.'

Fadumo was asked if she thought the practice should be
abolished. She said that if religious and government leaders
thought that girls should not be circumcised, she would be
the first one to support them because of her own experiences
of its serious, harmful effects. 'Women' she said 'suffer a
lot from this operation, from childhood until their old age.
Girls can hardly urinate when they are virgins because they
are tightly sewn up. They have the same problem with their
monthly periods,' she added.

Fadumo related how '. . . it used to take us hours to finish
our morning urine. We girls used to get up very early,
before the rest of the family were awake, and go to the
forest in groups but it was always hard to get rid of all
the urine because it came in drops and never finished
properly. We envied our mothers and grandmothers when they
went to urinate in the forest in their turn and came back
quickly. We looked forward to the day when we could do this,
and when rnenstruation would come and finish without pain
and difficulties. Marriage was a new problem and a solution
at the same time.

2 Ardo

Ardo is a 32 year old graduate of an intermediate school
with secretarial training and works as a typist in one of
the government ministries. She was born and raised in
Mogadiscio; her father was a religious leader and her mother
was a housewife with no formal schooling. Ardo was
circumcised and infibulated at the age of seven along with
several other girls. When asked how she was circumcised and
on whose decision Ardo replied: 'I was the one who initiated
my circumcision when I saw some of my friends in the
neighbourhood were being circumcised. My mother was
delighted to see my eagerness and agreed to include me with
the group. I was then circumcised at the same time as these
girls. 'I was excited and happy when my mother agreed, but
when I saw the woman operator and her razor blade, I felt
frightened. When it was my turn I was already trembling but
forced myself to sit down so that my mother would not see
that I was afraid. When the women there held me tight and
the midwife parted my legs, I was full of fear and when she
started the cutting, I screamed loudly and fought to free
myself. One of the women filled my mouth with cloth, another
one closed my eyes and they kept me tight and suffocated me
with their bosoms until I nearly ran out of air. By the time
the operation was over, I was exhausted and hardly
breathing. My mother told me that the operator used six
thorns to sew up my wound, three on each side. I did not
know what was happening to me except that I was feeling
severe pain. I also felt the rough, strong fingers of the
woman operator. 'After the operation, I stayed in bed for
two days without moving, as I was afraid to do so. I refused
to urinate as well, but even when I tried to on the second
day, I could not as it was so painful. My bladder was so
full and hard and I was crying. 'Because of this my father
decided that I should be taken to the hospital. When the
doctor examined me, he took the thorns out of the wound and
then helped me to urinate. After all the urine was out I
felt relieved of my pain. 'After two days, my mother
insisted that I should be sewn again and called another
midwife. I cried and resisted but they were stronger than I
was and the midwife sewed me up again. This time I felt pain
but it was not as painful as the cutting of the clitoris.
'On the fourth day of my second operation, the midwife came
and took out the thorns. My legs were tied up for several
days and I was walking with the support It took me about two
weeks to resume any normal activities. My mother nursed me,
cleaned the wound, applied herbs, burned small incense under
my legs and used to feed me with traditional 'mug mad'
(dried Somali meat) porridge and milk. 'Seven years after I
found that I had something hard and big on the scar of the
infibulation.2 It was like a small ball. I went to see a
doctor. He told me it was nothing serious and was a common
complaint with infibulation which could be remedied by a
minor operation. I was admitted to hospital, underwent the
operation from which it took me a week to recover.' Ardo
continued to say that she knew many girls and women who
suffered from circumcision and had heard of certain sad
cases of young girls who bled to death as a result of the
operation__, particularly in the rural areas. 'You see', she
said, 'people always hide such incidents.' When Ardo was
asked why she thought that women undergo these tortures, she
replied, 'It is a deep rooted custom in our culture and
people think it is an important operation for women because
it prevents them from being over-sexed. Uncircumcised girls
are not accepted among our society. As you know,
infibulation is a prerequisite for marriage because no man
wants to have an oversexed woman who becomes unfaithful
after marriage. No family wants their daughter to have
"loose" ways and bring shame:-. to the family. Because of
this, mothers make sure that their daughters are properly
circumcised and infibulated.' When Ardo was asked about her
married life experience, she replied, 'Well, I got married
to my first husband when I was 15 years old and I never
liked that man, he was too old for me-- about 40 years old.
Only my father decided that I should marry him. He was
always a stranger to me. At that time, nobody told me
anything about marriage and how to deal with such a
situation. On my wedding night there was a big ceremony and
all my friends and my relatives and my husband's were
present. I was given many presents and beautiful things. But
it was the most terrible evening of my life. 'When I was
left alone with this strange man for the first time, I felt
shy and afraid at the same time and did not know what to
expect from this strange man. 'The first nights of my
wedding were really awful and filled with fear. The custom
in Benader region is for the men to defibulate their brides
with their penis. Except in very rare cases it is an insult
if they use an instrument or if (as in the northern region)
the midwife defibulates. Anyway, I refused to submit or
cooperate with my husband. I shouted and fought with him,
and bit him seriously. Five days after my wedding, the man
was still not able to have intercourse with me. Then I was
forced to go to the hospital where they opened my
infibulation. After that I got an infection and was sick for
a few days before the man forced me again.  I was never
happy with that first husband and I continued to hate him
and fought with him in every sexual contact. I finally left
him, and refused to go back, until he agreed to divorce me.

'With my second husband, I can say that I am happy, because
he was my own choice this time. I rarely enjoy sex with him
because I still have some reservations and bad memories
about it.' Ardo has two children now, a daughter and a son.
She said that she will not have her daughter infibulated but
she will have the Sunna circumcision for her. She said that
her husband also prefers the Sunna circumcision but would
not agree with her not to have her daughter circumcised.

She said, 'As long as we are Muslims, I do not know why we
do not use only Sunna which will not involve the same
difficulties and complications of the infibulation.' Ardo
condemns the practice of infibulation but supports the mild
form of circumcision which she believes is a religious
obligation.

3. Sahra

Sahra, a 35 year old mother of six children (four daughters
and two sons) was a housewife with no formal education; she
was, however, born and brought up in a town. Her father was
a policeman and her mother a housewife with no formal
schooling. Sahra married a literate civil servant who has
since become a successful businessman.

She was circumcised alone at the age of seven years. She
said, 'It was my aunt's decision as my mother died when I
was four years old.' Asked to tell us something about her
circumcision experience, Sahra said, 'I have so much to tell
as I had to undergo that horrible operation three times.

'It was an early morning when the traditional midwife came
with her instrument bag and performed the operation', Sahra
continued, 'I knew I was going to be circumcised because my
aunt kept telling me that it was time that I should, as I
must be clean and that it would help me to grow up quickly
into a fine big girl like my sister.

'I was very much afraid of the woman operator when she
opened her dirty bag and produced the knife. (I was told
later it was a razor blade.) I was held very firm and tight
and my back was pressed back by some women friends of my
aunt and some relatives. When my legs were parted the
midwife started to perform the operation, I felt great pain
and I screamed and fought wildly, but it was not possible to
free myself. After all these years, I still remember the
pain and how frightened I was. When it was over, I could
hear the ululations of the women, and then they broke an egg
on the wound which they said would cool down the sharp pain.
They also used melmel3 and other traditional herbs. In spite
of this I started to bleed and they were not able to stop it
until the midwife took out the thorns. Then the bleeding
stopped and she put more herbs on the wound. I was left like
that for four days. They did not take me to hospital but my
aunt and the operator were nursing me at home. The fourth
day of my first operation, the midwife came again with her
knife, I was held tightly again and then reinfibulated with
several thorns. I was very shocked and shivering with fear
and pain.

'At the age of 12, I was told that my infibulation was not
proper (i.e., not tight enough) and therefore, I had to have
another operation. I was very unhappy about it, but I was
told I would not be regarded as a decent girl if I was not
tightly infibulated. Other girls of my age would laugh at me
and gossip about me and also there would be no hope for me
to marry if I was not infibulated well and according to the
customary standard. It was a horrible, painful and sickening
experience for me but I had to force myself to undergo it.

'That third operation was successful. This time I was very
careful with my movements even when I was allowed to walk.
My aunt also nursed me very carefully. I was fed with little
fluids and plain white rice and porridge with very little
butter for the first three days, so that I would not urinate
and defecate frequently during the first few days after the
operation. After the first week, circumcised girls are
usually given better foods, like meat, milk etc., to help
them regain their health.'
Sahra told us that menstruation was very painful,
particularly before she was married. 'I used to vomit and
feel terrible abdominal pain and backache but I am much
relieved since I got married and especially after I had
children.

  'My wedding was another unpleasant period of my life',
Sahra said. She continued to explain: 'On the second day of
my wedding around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the midwife
came to defibulate me. Of course I knew what was going to
happen to me because my married friends had told me about
the sufferings and torture of the wedding night. When I saw
the midwife and other women waiting for me, I pretended I
was going to the bathroom, I locked myself in and refused to
come out. This spoiled everything that evening and the
appoin-tment with the operator was postponed to the next
day. I refused to open the door until the next morning. That
day I was warned that if I refused to submit to the midwife,
they would call men to defibulate me by force.4 So after
resisting for a few hours I gave up and submitted myself to
the operation because I was more afraid of the men cutting
me up. I had heard some cases of girls who ran away during
their wedding time and then were caught and cut by strong
men.'

  Sahra described her wedding nights as difficult, miserable
nights, full of fear, worries, sleeplessness and sometimes
even physical struggle and fights with her husband to
prevent frequent, painful intercourse.

 Sahra said that she is happy with her husband now, but even
after 15 years of marriage still hates the sexual act. She
said, 'I have strange feelings about it, but I could never
explain them. I do not know whether my cold feelings are due
to circumcision or to other factors. I thought every woman
had the same feelings, until I discussed them with a friend
of mine.' Childbirth, she told us was always difficult, with
much suffering before and after.

 Asked if her daughters were infibulated, Sahra answered, 'I
did have my two elder daughters infibulated but I will not
have my youngest daughters infibulated. She said that she
still regrets having had her daughters infibulated and
blames this on the influence of her husband. She said, 'My
husband is in favour of girls being circumcised and
infibulated. I know he will not agree that our younger
daughters shall not be infibulated but I will insist
regardless of what happens to them in the future.'  Sahra
strongly opposed the continuation of the practice, saying
'It is really a brutal practice which makes women suffer all
their lives. I believe it is not a religious obligation but
was just intended by men to control women's sexuality like
animals. I think it is time now that women should stand
together and fight against this useless old custom.'
Notes

1.   Usually there is a short break between the first phase
     of the operation (the cutting of the clitoris) and the
     second phase (infibulating or sewing up the sides).

2.   Such a boil or growth is called keloid. It is a very
     common complication related to the infibulation scar.
     Many infibulated women are treated for this by a minor
     operation if they go to hospitals, but a large number
     of women hide this kind of complaint.

3.   Melmel is a sticky jellylike stuff which helps the
     sides of the wound to adhere.

4.   The custom in the northern region of Somalia is that if
     the bride refuses to be defibulated by the midwife, the
     male friends of the bridegroom take on the role and
     defibulate the bride by force, as a form of punishment.