On the 18th of June, Save A Girl Save a Generation attended the International Congress of Afro-descendants, “Afromadrid 2015.” Our founder, Asha Ismail, participated in the panel on sexual and reproductive health in Afro-descendant populations, along with experts in the subject such as the Egyptian doctor, Nagat Mohamed El-Demerdash, and Mari Paz García Bueno, of the Spanish organization, Confederación Nacional de Mujeres en Igualdad.

Asha was the first to talk and started from the beginning. At the age of five years old, she underwent the excision her clitoris in Somalia. “This moment marked my life,” she said. Telling her heartbreaking story, Asha demonstrated the need to end this practice and work to alleviate the consequences it leaves on all those who are affected. “The problem does not end with mutilation, but rather the nightmare begins afterward: the psychological consequences, the menstrual problems, the insecurity, the rejection of sex and, above all, having to deal with society’s ignorance on the subject. This is where we act.” Asha explained to a muted room.

Asha lived to be able to tell her story. Other girls like her did not survive this mutilation in 24 African countries, according to the Manual for the Prevention of Female Genital Mutilation, which was then presented by Mari Paz. This talk at the Ministry of Health ended with Dr. Nagat’s intervention on the sexual health of Egyptian women at risk of social exclusion.