A SURVIVOR of female "circumcision" has told of her fears for hundreds of young girls in Scotland at risk of the illegal and potentially fatal cutting procedure.

 

Soffie, 32, was just four-years-old when she was forced to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) in her home country of Gambia.

The office worker, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, has lived in the west of Glasgow since moving to the city in 2008 after marrying a British man.

But she fears her daughter has been 'cut' after she was taken back to their home country by a family member.

Although FGM - partial or total removal of a female's external genitalia - is illegal in the UK, Soffie fears people are ignoring the law and women are too scared to speak out about it.

Around 350 girls are born in Scotland each year into communities affected by FGM.

It is not possible to give an accurate figure for the number of women living in Scotland who have undergone FGM, but around 24,000 people born in countries with a prolific rate of the practice, currently live north of the border.

Experts say FGM is under-reported and more research is needed to understand how many people it has happened to and the extent of girls at risk.

Soffie said she did not realise FGM was happening to her until she was taken away during a 'cutting season' in her home country.

She said: "You don't realise it and nobody talks about it.

"You don't realise it until you're being cut and you're being held down.

"That's when you realise you're being circumcised.

"It's something people don't talk about."

Soffie said she became upset a few years later when her sister, then aged five, had to go through it.

"I remember it happening to other children like my younger sister," Soffie said.

"They take them into a house - a big open place with no windows - they lock the door.

"They take them one after the other then cut them.

"You just hear them screaming.

"I was really upset, I was crying. They had to take me out.

"Mothers let it happen because I don't think they know what harm they're doing to their children.

"Your mum doesn't go in with you though, she can't take the pain of seeing you like that."

Soffie said cutting season in Gambia usually takes place once or twice a year when they "bring a group of children - 50 to 60 or sometimes 70" together to have part or full removal of the external genitalia.

She said victims were sometimes baby girls as young as a three-months-old.

As well as Gambia, FGM also takes place among Somalian, Nigerian and Kenyan communities and many others.

Soffie explained how mutilation is seen as a tradition.

"Afterwards drums will be beaten, there's a lot of food, everybody will come singing and dancing," she said.

"People are proud.

"It's a tradition. But now I realise it's not a tradition, it's not a culture, my tribe do it because if you don't do it they call you names, they say no man will marry you."

Soffie says FGM has "destroyed" her life.

She has suffered mental health and physical problems.

She said: "This is had a big impact. I don't feel I want to be with a man.

"It destroys lives.

"I get infections all the time. It causes big complications during birth."

Soffie fears her young teenage daughter will face the same fate as her.

"It makes me feel really upset that it could have happened to her," she said.

Soffie is warning families not to take young female family members back to their home country where FGM is practised.

She said: "If you are going back to your family leave your daughter - don't take her with you. If you take your child the tribe will cut her.

"And you will be prosecuted when you come back.

"People might not think it will happen, they might think they can protect their child. But it ends up happening especially if you have a strict family.

"We have to protect the future generation."

Last month the Scottish Government announced it was investing nearly £220,000 to prevent FGM in Scotland.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the money would be directed to community projects, awareness-raising, training and support services.

We told in the Evening Times how Rape Crisis Glasgow's Ruby Project is struggling to cope with the demand of supporting people affected by issues, including FGM.

Anela Anwar, of Glasgow-based charity Roshni, said FGM was severely under reported.

She said: "We hear from communities that it is an issue they are concerned about.

"We work with many people who have undergone FGM in their home country. But it is under reported.

"We could have young girls who have been mutilated that we don't know about.

"People can hide it because they are worried if they speak out about it they will be investigated.

"We are working with communities but more needs to be done to empower people to talk about it and challenge it."

Anela said it was not known if mutilation was happening in Scotland but it could not be ruled out.

Nina Murray, women's policy development officer at the Scottish Refugee Council, said: "Based on the mother's country of birth, there are about 350 girls a year born to mothers born in an FGM practising country. That figure has been increasing in the last 10 years.

"In our research we didn't find any evidence that it was happening in Scotland, but we don't have evidence it's not happening either.

"There definitely is a discussion within communities about the risks related to 'travel home' to countries of origin at different points, even older young women."

Nina, who helped to carry out a scoping study of FGM in Scotland, said female "circumcision" was an ever-growing issue that the country needed to address at every level.

She added: "We've called for more services for women who are survivors."