Conversation

@Flick after a circumciser mistakenly cut deep into her vagina. I was sixteen years old when he died, and immediately married out by his brothers. My husband's family wanted me to be circumcised but I refused until I got pregnant and was taken to some local midwives who insisted I must be circumcised or I die with the baby. I was in labor but still refused.

Then, one of the midwives told my husband and his mother that they saw a piece of wood and not a child, coming out of my vagina. They said if I don't allow them to circumcise me within the next five minutes that I would give birth to a piece of wood. My husband was annoyed and slapped me twice and instructed the midwives to forcefully circumcise me, and then, threatened me that if I refused that he would gladly strangle me to death and marry a younger girl. I was helpless and opened my legs for the midwives to circumcise me.

I don't know if it was deliberate as one of the midwives cut deep from my vagina into my anus and I started bleeding uncontrollably. It took hours before they could contain the situation. But I lost the baby and the circumcision resulted into an obstetric fistula, leaving me with leaking feaces and urine! My husband left me and married another woman while I returned to my father's house before it took me two years to cure the obstetric fistula!"