Para la Organización Mundial de la Salud, la mutilación genital femenina “comprende todos los procedimientos consistentes en la resección parcial o total de los genitales externos femeninos, así como otras lesiones de los órganos genitales femeninos por motivos no médicos”. Aunque a menudo se identifica esta práctica con los países del África subsahariana, parece que surgió en Egipto y más tarde se propagó hacia el sur del continente. Resulta difícil determinar con precisión la fecha de su aparición, aunque papiros datados en el siglo II a.C. ya la mencionan, atestiguando su presencia en la época de los faraones.
A día de hoy, en torno al 90% de las mujeres egipcias de entre 15 y 65 años de edad han sufrido alguna forma de mutilación genital; la práctica está enraizada en lo más profundo del tejido social. A pesar de que ninguno de los textos sagrados menciona la ablación, las comunidades cristianas y musulmanas no se cansan de justificar con argumentos religiosos esta “purificación” –término con el que se califica en árabe a esta práctica–. En 2008, una ley declaró ilegal la ablación aunque, desde entonces, sólo tres profesionales médicos han sido sancionados (y uno de ellos continúa ejerciendo en la actualidad). El peso de las tradiciones y la inestabilidad política parecen obstaculizar la eficacia de una lucha nacional basada en iniciativas concretas.
Este proyecto fotográfico propone dar voz a las mujeres que, desafiando la presión social, han optado por rechazar la mutilación genital femenina. “La opción más pura” consiste en una serie de retratos de mujeres que han sido víctimas de la ablación. Cada una de ellas aparece fotografiada con su hija, a la que se han negado a mutilar, para así dar otro significado a la “purificación”. Lejos de ser las víctimas pasivas que aparecen retratadas con demasiada frecuencia, estas supervivientes han sabido transformar su experiencia en un cambio positivo. Su decisión de no perpetrar más esta práctica, convierte a cada una de estas mujeres en una activista en sí misma.
Irine and Moneka (Al-Barshra). Irine was 12 years old when she underwent FGM. She later lost two of her six children during childbirth. The repercussions of FGM go beyond the psychological trauma it creates. The victims are also prone to obstetric complications, such as tearing, recourse to episiotomy or post-partum haemorrhaging, and the death rate among newborns is higher.
Uum Malek and Malek (Qalanfil). “It’s easy to forget what you ate that day, or what the weather was like. But forgetting the trauma, forgetting the pain, is impossible.” Uum Malek is conscious of the long-term effects of FGM on her mental health and on her life as a married woman. “This barbaric practice is the cause of so many divorces, I couldn’t inflict such suffering on my own daughter. She has since managed to convince five other women from her village not to subject their daughters to FGM.
Marsa and Barbara-Anna (Al-Barsha). Marsa and her sister underwent FGM one day after coming home from school. Marsa subsequently suffered serious haemorrhaging and was bedridden for a week. Complications such as infection, viral infections, including HIV, or haemorrhages, fatal in some cases, are not uncommon in rural areas where the cutting is done with unsterilized knives or razor blades.
Do’a and Baheda (Sandibis). Do’a decided to refuse to have her daughter cut after taking part in a workshop organised by a local NGO. In Egypt, where religion is strongly woven into the social fabric, religious leaders are very influential in the fight against female genital cutting.
Doaa and Shahid (Ismailia). Doaa underwent FGM when she was ten years old during a big party organised by her family. Her awareness was first raised at university, when she managed to talk about it to other young women for the first time. She later married a man of Palestinian descent and learnt that it was not common practice in other Middle Eastern countries. Her decision not to subject her daughter to FGM was only supported by her husband’s family.
Fayza and Maha (Alexandria). Fayza, who was married off to an older man at the age of 14, first heard about FGM on her wedding night. It was her husband who pointed to the abnormality of the practice and the consequences it can have on a couple’s marital relations. For Fayza, the new generation is the first to be holding all the cards needed to fight against the practice, especially the freedom to speak out.
Marina, Yoanna and Febroina (Mallawi). It is thanks to the fight led by the village priest that Marina decided she would not have FGM performed on her daughters. Around ten other women, including her sister, have also decided not to subject their daughters to genital cutting. Social pressure combined with religious arguments are the two main pillars in the fight against FGM.
Maha and Maryam (Cairo). Maha’s experience of FGM felt like rape, and she developed a complex relationship with her body that has had a lasting impact on her life. When giving birth to Maryam, she refused to undress or to let the doctors touch her because of the trauma. She finally had to have an emergency caesarean. Maha has since learnt to love her body with the help of support workshops, and she now organises awareness raising campaigns among Syrian refugees in Egypt, to prevent the spread of the practice.
