Thread by @GMCEndFGM

A 13-year-old girl, Fartun Hassan Ahmed, died after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) on 11th July 2021 in a small village of Jeerinle, roughly 160km from Galkayo, the capital of the north-central Mudug region Galmudug regional state in Somalia...

A thread...

“We didn’t know what to do when we saw the bleeding. We booked a car to take the girl to hospital but unfortunately, she died when the car arrived”, her 45-year-old mother Nadifo Ahmed said. The girl bled to death around 4.00 PM, having been cut at 6.00 AM. Cc. @melindagates

FGM in Somalia has been carried out for hundreds of years because most people believe it is a religious obligation, though Christian and Muslim religious scholars have repeatedly condemned it. The message that #FGMNotMyReligion has not reached many across Africa and Asia.

The no. of girls being cut is increasing according to @UNFPA due to #COVID19 as more girls are locked down at home- and cutters are touting for business. #EndFGM

According to the journalist working with the @GMCEndFGM, Hassan Abdirahman, who visited the remote nomadic settlement, Fartun was cut with her 9-year-old sister Bisharo Hassan – the cutter was called to cut girls from three families near Jeerinle village last Sunday morning.

Nine-year-old Bisharo was cut first- a process that takes an average of 20 minutes/girl using a razor blade- but when it became clear that the second girl, Fartun, was bleeding heavily – the multiple cutting was abandoned. @UNFPA_SOMALIA @mtushiminina

In Somalia, more than 90% of girls are genitally mutilated. The most extreme form of FGM is carried out on girls at puberty or before. In Somalia, this includes the forced removal of all the external female genitalia, usually with a razor blade and the sewing up of the vagina.

Fartun, born in a pastoralist family of six members, and the village has neither a hospital nor a Mother and Child Health center, while the nearest hospital is situated in the small town of Xingod 10km from Jeerinle. #EndFGM @Atayeshe @mtushiminina

Nadiifo, the mother, and her husband (Hassan Ahmed) said they regretted their decision to call a cutter to cut their daughter at the older age of 13 since the family was on the move and had delayed her mutilation. Cc. @GPtoEndFGM

Girls in Somalia are usually subjected to FGM aged 8-10.

“There is a bigger danger for girls who are older. They are bigger and stronger and struggle more – to the damage a razor blade does can be worse,” - Dr. Comfort Momoh Cc. @WallaceGlobal @Irish_Aid

Her blind father said, “She took me to a nearby tree and held my hand. We wanted her to be cut, as parents – her mother suggested it and I did not object. We all decided.” @UNFPASomalia All his elder daughters had been cut. @WallaceGlobal

.@GMCEndFGM contacted the local police, said they called the family for an interview but no one was arrested following her death. “ We will investigate. It's the first time it has happened in the village, The Federal Police have a plan to raise awareness.” ~ Aidarus Ahmed

But, Hassan Abdirahman, the freelance journalist who interviewed the family said, “I was told that about 20 girls were circumcised in a village, east of where the girl died. I was also told that many other girls had been cut but only the news of Fartun was heard. #EndFGM @UNFPA

Many girls have already died but now the news of bleeding to death of 13-year-old Fartun is new. To them, they said the bleeding was caused by a lack of a hospital”
~ Hassan Abdirahman

“On Sunday, it was Fartun who bled to death after #FGM, and in the next village east of Jeerinle, another 20 girls were mutilated. We have no idea exactly how many young girls are dying because of FGM ~@NymaHassan

What we do know is that a girl is cut every 6 seconds – 4 million a year according to the UN, and this horror must stop - the fact that FGM is not a religious obligation has to be communicated urgently through local radios, as soon as possible.” ~ Naimah Hassan

.@UNFPA rep for Somalia @Anders_Thomsen reiterated the call on the Government of Somalia to pass the zero tolerance for FGM legislation and the Sexual Offences Bill to act expeditiously to end the practice and protect the rights of girls and women. @UNFPA_SOMALIA @GPtoEndFGM

“It’s disheartening to learn about Fartun’s death. This practice shouldn't be happening in this day and age. #FGM scars girls and women and endangers their health for life, depriving them of their rights and denying them the chance to reach their full potential,” ~@Anders_Thomsen

“We are deeply saddened by the recent tragic death of 13- year-old girl Fartun in Somalia while undergoing Female Genital Mutilation #FGM. We are outraged that such senseless deaths still occur in 2021. @mtushiminina @GPtoEndFGM

"It breaks my heart when at this age and time, over 9/10 of girls under the age of 15 are continuously facing the threat of undergoing #FGM which is ingrained in many cultures globally such is the case today in Somalia." @mtushiminina @GPtoEndFGM

"This has once again thrown a spotlight on the suffering of millions of girls and women in Somalia and worldwide who have undergone #FGM. Globally, there are an estimated 200 million women alive today who've undergone FGM for whom their bodily autonomy is denied. ~@mtushiminina

An estimated 68 million girls will be subjected to female genital mutilation by 2030 if we don’t accelerate our efforts to end this harmful practice. Now more than ever, we need stronger and bolder action. ~@mtushiminina @UNFPA

We urge the government, religious leaders, civil society organizations, media, local communities to #EndFGM, which violates girls’ rights to bodily autonomy, #SRHR, right to protection, to live free from violence, and in cases like Fartun’s, their right to life.” @mtushiminina

“I am very sad to learn of the death of another young girl in the Somali region directly as a result of FGM. Both parents made the decision to cut their daughter because they believed it was the right thing to do…" Ifrah Ahmed @IfrahFoundation

I am reminded of Deequa’s parents who also were devastated when their daughter died in the same way in Galmudug. It makes me even more determined to bring an end to this practice once and for all. Enough is enough we must stop cutting our daughters.”~Ifrah Ahmed @IfrahFoundation

On 14 July 2018, a 10-year-old girl Deeqa Dahir Nuur has died after undergoing female genital mutilation in the village of Olol, roughly 65km from Dhusmareb, in central Galmudug state.

@GPtoEndFGM @melindagates @Atayeshe @WallaceGlobal @SoroptiTweet @UNFPA