The day 13 years old Folake was circumcised, she had no idea what was about to happen. She had gone to bed the previous evening only to be woken in the dead of the night by a loud bang on the door of the room where she and her 10-year-old sister slept. The room was in inky darkness as the door crashed open and before Folake could move, she felt a large hand covering her mouth and nose while another strong hand lifted her off the bed and dragged her out of the room into the passage.
Genital-mutilation In shock and unable to protest or wriggle free, Folake heard her sister screaming in the background, but under the pale, moon-lit night, as she was dragged out of the back door into the compound and onto the footpath leading to the main road, she quickly became aware of some figures standing by the house. She recognized one of those figures as her mother’s and made a vain attempt to call out to her. She was surprised that her mother made no move to rescue her from the assailant. Tears came to her eyes when she heard her mother whisper “Folake, you are going to be cut. It’s your turn.”
