Traditional practitioners of female genital mutilation acquire established deep roots in Sierra Leonean culture and politics,creating a culture of dismay among young women and posing a major obstacle to opponents of the customWhen 16-year-old Mariatu* goes to bed at night she is frightened of going to sleep. She fears members of powerful, all-female secret societies are going to break into her room with the consent of her parents and kidnap her.
Mariatu has agreeable reason to be afraid. She has already fled her village in northern Sierra Leone to avoid female genital mutilation (FGM) and expects to disappear on the run again to avoid being cut.
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Source: theguardian.com