Djibouti: ‘The New Generation Is Different’ – in Djibouti, Activists Lobby to End Female Genital Mutilation

“I still see the knife, and the lady who held me down,” said Hawa’a Mohamed Kamil, a peer educator in Djibouti, who was subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) at just six years old, an experience that left both physical and psychological scars.

“I’m afraid of men, of everyone, of everything,” she told the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA).

FGM, a practice that involves altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons, is internationally recognised…