In Somaliland, COVID brings ‘cutters’ door to door for girls

By CARA ANNA
Associated Press

HARGEISA, Somalia (AP) — Officials and health workers say cases of female genital mutilation increased during the pandemic in parts of Africa. It’s particularly true in Somaliland. There, 98% of girls ages 5 to 11 undergo the procedure to remove external genitalia. It can cause painful complications and sometimes death. There’s no medical or religious purpose, but female circumcision has deep cultural roots. It’s legal in Somaliland, a region that separated from Somalia in 1991. Lockdowns kept girls out of school, and vulnerable to women sometimes called “cutters.” They went door to door, asking families whether girls had been cut. Economic pressures led parents to give daughters in marriage, for which FGM is culturally expected. Anti-FGM activists fear progress is lost.