Sheโs been married to her husband for 6 years now and she should know what he is and isnโt okay with. Since they have daughters and FGM is an unfortunate part of our culture, youโd think sheโd ask what his views are? Maybe ask the younger women in his family if they had it done? Also, FGM usually happens because of the older matriarchs of the family. Hence she shouldnโt worry about her husband, but about the older women back home. But even then, the likelihood of them doing anything without her permission is incredibly low. At the end of the day, the vast majority of Western Somalis do not agree with FGM, do not do it on their full ethnic Somali daughters no longer, hence the likelihood of her husband being pro FGM or his family members being for it is slim to none. But they really should have had those conversations a long time ago so as to put her mind as ease.
I can sympathize though. Why? Because I understand the feeling of fearing the unknown. Thatโs why I married into my own culture. Understanding different ways of life, the expectations and the parts of culture that makes me feel uncomfortable would be too much for me, especially when children are in the mix. She should have challenged those fears in the dating stage and should have asked as much questions as possible to get a clearer insight and really delved into the culture sheโs marrying into.
we have the worst rep
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