Shamsa Araweelo was very excited when, at the age of six, she went to her grandmother’s house, in a small village in Somalia, “to become a woman”.

Like her five-year-old cousin and seven-year-old sister who were with her, she had no idea what this really meant – until her cousin went first “and all hell broke loose” to become “the most violent scene I ever had to witness”.

She witnessed the “confusing” and “horrific” scene of her little cousin being pinned down by five relatives. Screaming. Fighting. Bleeding.

She knew she was next. She tried to run. But she was dragged and forced to sit on the same bloody stool as her cousin before her – and endure being restrained while her genitals were “pinched and cut”. Then put into a glass jar with the genitals of other little girls.

She was then stitched. No anaesthetic or pain killer. And when it was done, her legs were wrapped, and her limp body was put on the dusty ground near her bleeding cousin - to watch her sister live the same torturous nightmare.

Shamsa, now 32, has grown up to become a campaigner against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). She is in Malta to share her story and campaign. Because this is not “a reality of Africa”. Young girls all over the world, including Malta, are still at risk, she says.

Governments need to open their eyes to the realities of young migrant girls who can be taken out of the country to get FGM – still available in some 90 countries.

And, she stressed, the healthcare system needs to be more aware of FGM survivors’ complex physical and psychological needs. 

FGM, also known as female circumcision,  is a procedure where the typical female genitals are cut, injured, or changed for non-medical reasons. It is illegal in many countries, including Malta.

However, according to the European Institute for Gender Equality, up to 57 % of girls originating from FGM-practising countries who live in Malta are at risk of female genital mutilation. 

The day I was cut

Shamsa grew up in a small village in Somalia where young girls knew that FGM was about to happen, but had no idea what it really meant.

“When a girl had hers done, she was encouraged to encourage the other girls about how amazing it was to become a woman. The girls who did not have it done, were bullied by adults and children – considered dirty and excluded – as a kid you don’t want that to happen to you.”

So, on the day of her FGM, she was very excited. “We were over the moon – we were finally becoming women,” she says.

Shamsa underwent FGM at the age of six

Shamsa, her cousin and sister went to their grandmother’s where there was a strange-looking woman – the cutter. The cutter was in the front yard of the house that was surrounded by a stick fence. She sat on a little stool made of animal skin. There was another stool opposite her. They asked who would go first. The little cousin volunteered.

“She walked calmly and happily to the seat, then all hell broke loose: it was arms being stretched apart and legs being stretched apart. About five to six adults holding down this five-year-old tiny child.

”Shamsa and her sister watched – scared and confused as a cloth was put in their cousin’s mouth to stop her screaming. They did not understand what was happening, but they knew it was not good. So they ran. They were caught by their uncle, who took them back to the house. By the time they were back, their cousin was limp. They were sewing her together.

“We sat there knowing that one of us was next and that feeling was absolutely disgusting,” she said. It was Shamsa’s turn.

“It felt like I was being asked to walk to my death," she said.

"My family held me down. Separated my legs. I remember fighting quite a lot…"

Describing how a razor was used to cut away her genitals, she said, "They did not leave me with anything.”

They put a cloth in her mouth. She went limp. In a daze, she looked to the side and saw a glass jar that was half full. “It had blood and bits and pieces in it – our genitalia were put into that jar. From how full it was, I knew we were not the only ones who were cut that day.”

She snapped out of the daze when she felt the needle being pushed through her fresh wound to sew her up. “They sealed me shut, leaving a tiny hole for urination and one for future menstruation and future penetration. They used the stick of a cottonbud to measure how small the holes would be.”They then tied her legs. Place her on the ground. It was her sister’s turn. 

Living with FGM

But that was not the end of it. Meanwhile, Shamsa and her family moved to the UK when she was seven.

As well as the pyschological scars, there were physical repercussions. 

“Infections, cists, tearing and the general discomfort of tightness of being sewn too tight,” she says. She got her period when she was nine. Every month, she would end up in severe pain or in hospital.

Shamsa graduated in policing and criminal investigation

Doctors did not even think to link her condition to FGM. She was labelled as a sick child. By the time she was 14, so much dried menstrual blood had accumulated inside, that it started ripping her open – slowly, painfully.

Her mother took her to a gynaecologist who, for the first time, examined her and prescribed paracetamol and sent her home.

Forced marriage and rape

Then, when she was 17 years old, she did something she regrets till this day. She decided to return to Somalia to discover her roots and connect with family.

Her mother’s brother decided to keep her there until she turned 18 – a few months after her arrival – and forced her to marry a cousin. She underwent marital rape for days followed by beating.

“The man basically ripped me open – so I had to go through yet another form of trauma,” she said. Desperate, she called her mother in the UK and learnt that her mother  - who was dying from a brain tumour - had not been aware of her reality. Her mother sent her money to escape. She returned to the UK seven days before her mother died. 

Birth of an activist 

Shamsa obtained a divorce and remarried a year later, and eventually had her daughter who is now 10 years old. Giving birth was another eye-opener about the lack of sensitivity towards FGM survivors. “When giving birth, I had to constantly tell them I was an FGM survivor and I had to insist for them to cut me as I was feeling I was going to rip,” she says adding that “doctors do not take FGM survivors seriously”.

Then, at the end of 2019, there was a turning point in her life. As she looked for someone to relate to, she could not find that person. Most women who spoke about FGM were older.

Shamsa became an activist to give a voice to young FGM survivors

“I decided to become the person I was looking for. It is a very sad and silent world when it comes to FGM." Now, apart from FGM, Shamsa is also warning people against the possible repercussions of accepted surgeries such as labioplasty and vaginoplasty.

“It’s the same thing. The women might be consenting adults, but when something goes wrong, they are told: but you chose this. The side effects of these procedures are the same as FGM. It comes with the same insecurities and complications. There is also the same social acceptance.“It’s who you are – why are women conditioned to accepting having to change a part of themselves and men are not?” she says.

Shamsa works tirelessly to educate and raises awareness through her powerful and direct online videos, with more than 70 million views on TikTok. In 2023 she was voted in to the BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women from around the world and in 2024 she was awarded The Girls Human Rights Award. She provides advice on FGM to London’s Metropolitan Police and has launched her own charity, Garden of Peace.

Shamsa will be sharing her experiences on Friday March 7 at the Cavalieri Art Hotel between 6.30pm and 8.30pm. On Saturday March 8 she will lead the Steps to Equality: A Women’s Day Walk that starts at the LOVE Monument in St Julians at 9.30am.

The event is being organised by Bryn Kennard, who runs BodyWorks, and is focused on raising €100,000 for a charity called Plan International, based in the UK, which advocates for the equality of girls and children's rights.