Hibo Wardere is a Somali-born campaigner against

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

(FGM), author, and public speaker. Born in Somalia, she moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England when just a teenager in 1989, as a refugee fleeing the

Somali Civil War The Somali Civil War ( so, Dagaalkii Sokeeye ee Soomaaliya; ar, الحرب الأهلية الصومالية ) is an ongoing civil war that is taking place in Somalia. It grew out of resistance to the Military dictatorship, military junta wh ...

. She currently resides in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

, London, where she worked as a mediator and a regular FGM educator for Waltham Forest Borough. Her testimonials and campaigning work have made her one of Britain's most prominent campaigners about FGM and she has appeared in numerous publications, including the ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

'', the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

Early life

Hibo Wardere was born in Somalia. At the age of six, she was the victim of type 3 FGM, an event she has described as "being engulfed in pain from head to toe". Every day for the next ten years, she sought answers from her mother, but was always denied a response. When Wardere was 16, she finally struck a deal with a relative, who promised to tell her everything about what happened after her wedding night. She was horrified by the revelations, and soon fled to London after the civil war broke out in the 1980s.

Activism

When she arrived in London, Wardere sought treatment for her wounds, but received little support from the NHS. Doctors failed to ask what had happened to her, and only rarely mentioned FGM on her medical files, even when she gave birth to her children. Wardere eventually found the answers she was looking for at the library, where she read about female mutilation in a book. Years later, when she was studying to become a teaching assistant, she opened up about her story in a homework essay. The head of staff read her work and asked her to deliver a speech to 120 teachers, during which some realised that their students might have experienced the same trauma. After reading Wardere's essay, school governor Clare Coghill booked Wardere appointments with other schools in the area. Wardere has worked as a mediator and FGM educator since then, helping young students escape FGM. She also delivers awareness raising sessions to doctors and the Police to assist in their understanding of FGM. Her testimonies have appeared in numerous publications, including the BBC, the ''Guardian'' and the ''Telegraph''. Wardere has advised that as an FGM survivor, she is aware many other women who have undergone the practice feel too ashamed to speak out about their suffering. Wardere is quoted as saying “It is a sexual abuse. It brings shame and rips women and girls of their dignity. It should be stopped". Wardere's main ambition for the future is to see

Female Genital Mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

eradicated in her lifetime. Her memoir, ''Cut'', was published in April 2016.

Personal life

Hibo Wardere lives with her husband Yusuf and their seven children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wardere, Hibo Somalian women Somalian emigrants to the United Kingdom Women memoirists Activists against female genital mutilation Somalian health activists Violence against women in Somalia