Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad

Content Warning: This section includes descriptions of female genital mutilation.

Female genital mutilation, or FGM, involves the removal of part or all of the female external genitalia and may also involve suturing the outer labia together. This procedure is practiced in 30 countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The World Health Organization estimates that as of 2023, 200 million girls and women alive today have experienced female genital mutilation. Approximately 3 million women are at risk of FGM each year. The procedure is usually carried out on girls before the age of 15. FGM is sometimes referred to as female circumcision, but many anti-FGM advocates consider the term misleading because FGM is not comparable to male circumcision; however, Dirie uses the term “circumcision” to refer to FGM throughout Desert Flower.

There are no health benefits to the practice. Immense harm occurs to girls and women subjected to the procedure, including severe pain, swelling, fever, infection, hemorrhaging, urinary problems, and shock. Some girls and women, like Dirie’s older sister Halemo, die from complications during or after the procedure, which is often performed in unsanitary conditions with no pain relief. FGM results in extreme pain and discomfort that often lasts for the entirety of the women’s lives. Other long-term effects can include urinary tract and vaginal pain, menstrual blood blockage, scarring, infections, childbirth complications, and the need for later surgery (such as cutting open the sealed vagina for sexual intercourse or childbirth and often re-suturing it).

FGM can be classified into four types. Type 1 involves the total or partial removal of the clitoris. Type 2 involves the additional removal of the labia minora and, in some cases, the labia majora. Type 3, known as infibulation, involves the suturing of some part of the labia or the skin around the vulva to create a seal covering the vagina. Dirie underwent Type 3 FGM. Type 3 may also involve the removal of genitalia present in Type 1 and Type 2. Type 4 is an umbrella term to refer to any other non-medical procedures practiced on a girl’s or woman’s genitalia, including piercing, pricking, burning, cauterizing, or incising. Different types of FGM are practiced in different parts of the world.

FGM is a cultural tradition and, in most cases, is thought to ensure premarital virginity. It is culturally normalized in many communities, where it is considered a necessary part of raising a girl; pre-FGM vulvas are interpreted as unsanitary and inherently immodest. Many people believe that FGM has religious importance in Islamic belief systems; however, it is not referenced anywhere in the Qur'an and is also practiced in non-Muslim communities. As such, it can be seen as a culturally normalized practice rather than a religious practice.

Some areas have adopted medicalized FGM in response to the health complications and deaths caused by non-medical FGM, believing that a sanitary, medical practice of the procedure reduces the risk of complications. However, the World Health Organization condemns medicalized FGM, classifying the procedure—whether it is medicalized or not—as inhumane and degrading, in violation of a person’s right to security, health, and right to live without torture and cruelty (“Female Genital Mutilation.” World Health Organization, 2023).