Bundasliga
VIP
"Although the Somali have practised FGC for a long time, none of the respondents interviewed could explain, with any degree of certainty, the origins of the practice. This lack of clarity supports findings from other research undertaken among this population.22 Oral tales were cited that trace the practice to Egyptian traders who brought it to Northern Somalia, from where it spread to the rest of the region. Infibulation was thought to have been started by a legendary woman ruler in Northern Somalia, Arawelo, who was known to castrate men and sew up women to suppress their sexual desire as a form of punishment. It is not clear, however, how such an oppressive act would be adopted and converted into a strongly celebrated cultural practice. Some elderly men indicated that infibulation could have been started to safeguard family honour, and girls’ pride and dignity by preserving virginity. It was also not clear whether men or women initiated it."
