Published: Just now
Tens of thousands of girls and women in Sweden are genitally mutilated. Something that can cause lifelong trauma and severe problems.
– They tell us that they stopped being children that day, says Luul Jama, founder of the non-profit organization Existera, and one of three to receive the 2023 Selma of the Year award.
A row of little girls are standing in line. They are full of anticipation and have understood that something special awaits them.
– Then they hear the screams from the other girls. They freeze and feel that something terrible is going to happen. But they cannot escape.
Luul Jama, founder of the non-profit organization Existera, describes how it can happen in the case of female genital mutilation.
Most of the girls and women she meets have been FGM in their home country before coming to Sweden. Genital mutilation is often done with a knife, a razor blade or a shard of glass without anesthesia. Afterwards, the girls may feel manipulated and let down.
– It is impossible to describe what happens to them. They tell us that they changed that day. Then I stopped being a child, they say. When they were 4, 5 or 6 years old, says Luul Jama.
Want to break the taboo
Luul Jama is one of three now awarded the 2023 Selma of the Year award. She started the organization Existera in 2015 because she felt frustrated that girls and women who had been subjected to genital mutilation were not given the right help or taken seriously.
The association runs a telephone helpline, circles and meeting places where women can learn more and talk about their problems with others.
– The issue of female genital mutilation has fallen into obscurity. You don’t dare to deal with it and work preventively, says Luul Jama.
It is not known exactly how many people in Sweden are FGM. According to the National Board of Health and Welfare’s figures, this may be around 38,000 people. The organization Existera’s calculations show that there may be approximately 75,000 girls and women.
Luul Jama fights to break the taboo around the subject. She wants the question of whether a girl or woman is FGM to be asked more often and more systematically – for example in the asylum process, at school and at the maternity care center – in order to catch those affected.
– We must dare to approach it and dare to talk about it, she says.
“Will be a vindication”
Luul Jama shares the 2023 Selma of the Year award with Cecilia Berger and Bita Eshraghi, who both work as assistant chief physicians at the Amelmottagningen at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm. Here, women who have undergone female genital mutilation can receive care.
Those who apply to the specialist clinic can range from women who are pregnant and want to know whether they can give birth vaginally or not, to women who have problems urinating, have severe menstrual pain, have pain during intercourse or have psychological problems.
At Amelmottagningen, women are offered, among other things, information about what was done during genital mutilation, conversation support with a counselor if needed and a so-called opening operation if the labia have been sewn together.
With the help of vulva models, a vulva plane and a mirror during the gynecological visit, the women can gain more knowledge about their abdomen and what has happened to them.
– It will be a vindication for many. They feel that they can take back their body and their sexuality, says Cecilia Berger.
There are only two receptions in Sweden
Doctors Cecilia Berger and Bita Eshraghi also lecture to professionals in everything from healthcare to schools, social services, police and the judiciary.
– We feel that knowledge in general in Sweden is quite low, which is also confirmed in a report by the National Board of Health and Welfare, says Bita Eshraghi.
Today, there are only two specialist clinics focused on female genital mutilation in Sweden: the Amel clinic at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm and the Vulva clinic at Angered Hospital in Gothenburg.
– We want women to be able to receive the care they are entitled to. There needs to be more specialist clinics in other parts of the country. You should not have to travel from Norrbotten to Stockholm to have the opportunity to receive this care. It is unequal care today, says Bita Eshraghi.
The Selma of the Year prize is awarded for the sixth year, and is given to people who have made an impact in the gender equality debate and influenced change and improvement in society.
Facts
Female genital mutilation
Close to four million girls worldwide are genitally mutilated every year.
In total, around 200 million women in the world are estimated to be FGM.
In Sweden, approximately 38,000 women are estimated to be vulnerable, according to figures from the National Board of Health and Welfare. But the number of darkness can be large. According to the organization Existera’s figures from 2021, there could be 75,000 girls and women in Sweden who are genitally mutilated.
Most people who live in Sweden and are genitally mutilated have their roots in Eritrea, Somalia, Gambia, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt, according to Amelmottagningen.
The World Health Organization, WHO, defines four different types of female genital mutilation.
Genital mutilation is often performed with non-sterile tools – such as a knife, razor blade or shard of glass – without anesthesia. An unknown number of girls die each year as a result of the procedure.
Genital mutilation takes place at different ages depending on local tradition, from infancy up to around 15 years of age.
Sources: Unicef, WHO, National Board of Health and Welfare, Sida, Amelmottagningen
Read moreFacts
Care at Amelmottagingen
The women are offered a gynecological examination and assessment (and receive information about what was done during the genital mutilation) as well as treatment for the symptoms that may bother them.
If they have a type 3 genital mutilation with a skin bridge that covers the urethral opening and vaginal opening, they can be helped with an opening operation.
If necessary, conversational support is offered with a counselor or further visits to a midwife for treatment of problems related to sexual function.
Source: Amelmottagningen at Södersjukhuset in Stockholm
Read moreFacts
This year’s Selma 2023
This year’s Selma is a feminist prize awarded by the book publisher Romanus & Selling. The award goes to a person or organization that has made an impression on the gender equality debate and influenced change and improvement.
The prize is awarded on International Women’s Day and the prize sum is SEK 10,000. This year’s Selma was established in 2018 by the book publisher Romanus & Selling and Bonnierförlagen.
Source: Romanus & Selling
Read more