My mother said āforgive meā for my FGM
Decades after she escaped her home country of Somalia, model and activist Waris Dirie returned there in the 1990s to convince her mother to actively stop other relatives undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM).
āIt was my first mission when I got there,ā she told the Ö÷²„“óŠć Hardtalk programmeās Stephen Sackur.
āI told her one day, 'Mama, if you donāt save my brotherās children, or anyone who you know, neighbours. If you donāt speak up against this, Mama, Iām going to come for you. I work with the police now in England'.ā
Her mother did eventually change her mind on the practice.
āIn the end she put her hands up and said 'forgive me, I didnāt know'.ā
Ms Dirie underwent FGM as a child aged about five, and later she became a campaigner against the practice.
