By Elizabeth Yore for Townhall.com | Image from Townhall
Last month, a 10-year-old Somali girl bled to death as a direct result of being subjected to female genital mutilation. In Somalia, FGM is not outlawed and is universally practiced, despite its enormous serious health consequences.
The 10-year-old was rushed to a local hospital and Dr. Abdirahman Omar Hassan, the doctor who treated her, described her injuries:
“Her whole female genital tract had been removed…it’s type 4 FGM,” he said. “She was brought in two days after they cut her, she was already infected with tetanus. I have never seen this kind of mutilation. And I have treated many bad FGM cases here because it is so common. She was bleeding and convulsing. We tried to save her, but she died an hour later.”
In Somalia, the cruel reality is that 98 percent of girls are subjected to FGM. In 2016, it was reported that Britain has the highest number of Somalis in Europe with over 98,000 Somalis residing in Britain. Across the Atlantic, the Somali population is estimated to be as high as 150,000 in the U.S. The reality is that immigrants bring their ancient practices with them when they migrant to a new country. Continue reading…
