Not sure what to write about this.

It is hard to believe, but you have to try to convince them not to mutilate their daughters. "It's tradition" they say to cut, in varying levels, the female genitals. "If they aren't cut, they won't find a husband and they won't be able to control their desires later."


Bafla, at left, has cut young girls for over 40 years... about 50 a year. She seems like a nice old lady with no front teeth. She says the profession is part of her caste, that her mother and her grandmother did the same. Her hands are long and thin, but I imagine them holding the small blades she showed me in a dusty shack with a screaming little girl as her mother and other women hold her down. Officially, one in every five girls suffers complications, from infections, hemorrhages, complete blockage or even death. And those are from statistics where people want to talk about it to officials, so I imagine the real number would be higher.

Oumou is Bafla's daughter. She once saw a girl almost bleed to death and is since a starch opponent of the practice. She persuaded other family members not to have their daughters cut. "If you go ahead with it and something happens, you will be responsible", she tells them. Even her mother shows a bit of doubt and said she started to worry something might one day go wrong.


Of the men present during our discussion, 2 were for, 2 against and 2 couldn't decide. That is a better statistic than for the rest of the country. The average is 84% of women are circonsised. In some areas, it is as high as 98%. In the north, the prevalence is much lower.


Will be working more on this story. Will let you know when the report will be on RTL and on Euronews, around February 6th, International Day of Female Genital Mutilation.