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In December 1983, 10-year-old Fauzia* (not her real name) travelled with relatives to her family’s ancestral home. Born in Mombasa and raised in Nairobi, she had family roots in Isiolo. She did not know the visit would change her life.
An aunt held her down as she struggled through a procedure involving the cutting and stitching of her genital tissue. She bled heavily, prompting a relative to arrange for a military doctor to attend to her. The procedure was carried out secretly, she recalls, at a time when efforts to stop the practice were attracting attention.
For Fauzia*, the experience did not end when the cutting was over. She returned to childhood carrying an experience she could not fully comprehend, with physical difficulties that emerged over time and questions she would only begin to understand years later.
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