For a woman in her 50s, Madina Daff still cannot get over her teenage years. She suffered all of them in agony and shame.
Madina, barely in her adolescence, was subjected one of the most severe forms of female genital mutilation (FMG) — infibulation. This involves cutting parts of the vagina and repositioning exposed tissue to create a seal that narrows the opening of the female organ to a tiny hole that just about allows for passing of urine and menstrual blood.
Madina was too young to understand what was happening to her. Like all other young girls in her ethnic Fulani community in Mali, she was required to go through this rite of passage before the onset of puberty.
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