Knowledge sharing dialogue - mental health

For many survivors of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), the physical wounds are only part of the story. The psychological impacts, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and profound shame around body image and intimacy can be just as devastating and far less visible.

Yet these mental health needs remain deeply under-recognised.

A recent dialogue on FGM/C in the Horn of Africa, co-hosted by Belt of Somali Women, Somaliland Family Health Association, Silver Lining Kenya, and Orchid Project, brought this urgent issue to the fore. Presentations by Dr. Suaad Abdulrehman, a psychiatrist working with Somali FGM/C survivors in the Netherlands and Benazir Mohamed, Founder and Executive Director of Silver Lining Kenya, explored both the barriers survivors face in accessing mental health support and the opportunities that exist to do better.