A survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM) has revealed her terrifying ordeal after she was forced to undergo the procedure without anesthetic when she was just 11-years-old.
Damaris Monty, now 14, from Tangulbei, Kenya, and a mother to a two-year-old daughter, had no idea what getting cut meant before it happened to her and four other young girls who were lined up to be mutilated.
The practice is carried out in some parts of the world under the belief it makes girls purer and eligible to marry.
Recalling the day it happened to her, Damaris said: 'I was at my aunt's place and she and her husband told me to undergo the cut.
'I really didn't know what it was, but they told me I had to undergo it. My aunt told me just the night before that I would be cut. I don't know whether or not my parents knew about it and approved it.'
Damaris, who had never been to school or received any kind of education, said if she had known what was going to happen to her, she would have run away.
But instead, she and the four other girls were led outside her aunt's house one morning and told to sit on stones in a line facing the rising sun.
Describing how events unfolded, Damaris said: 'The first girl was cut. Then they covered her with a scarf and left her there.
Then they did the same thing to the next person.
Then they did the same thing to the next person.
'When I was cut, blood flew. I felt pain. I was so stressed out, because this is something I didn't choose.
'I got wrapped in a sheep skin.
They tied our legs with torn clothes close to the thighs. We sat on the stones for an hour and then they took all of us to a bush where they constructed something small, like a house.
They tied our legs with torn clothes close to the thighs. We sat on the stones for an hour and then they took all of us to a bush where they constructed something small, like a house.
'We got there on foot; we were walking, slowly, slowly. It was hurting because of the cut and the fact that our legs were tied. All of us managed to walk.
'We stayed in the hut for three months to heal. Our legs remained tied and they used to prepare porridge for us, like we were little kids.
'We didn't like it, but we had no option of running away because we had wounds and we couldn't run.
At the beginning, the women used to come and stay with us during the day, but when we almost healed completely, we were left on our own.'
At the beginning, the women used to come and stay with us during the day, but when we almost healed completely, we were left on our own.'
Damaris said her ordeal wasn't over as not long after, she was forced to marry a man twice her age.
'At that point, I didn't know that going for the cut would lead to marriage. I thought that I would go for the cut and then go back home or go to school,' she said.
She said her older husband was not kind to her and she was expected to consummate their marriage right away - when she was still only 12 and recovering from the FGM.
She said: 'The act after the FGM was really painful; it hurt a lot until the following day.'
Damaris became pregnant and had a daughter, Chepkopus Domoren, now aged two.
She said her husband didn't treat either of them well and she was determined to escape to give her daughter a better life - and to spare her the horror of FGM.
She said: 'My daughter became sick and whenever I told my husband about it, he couldn't care less, so it was just me, alone, trying to find ways of getting help.
Each time I was going to the hospital, my husband used to tell me "I know that the child is not sick, you're just making it up". He only had time for alcohol.
Each time I was going to the hospital, my husband used to tell me "I know that the child is not sick, you're just making it up". He only had time for alcohol.
'One day he locked me in the house while my baby was outside. She was alone. I was worried for my baby; I thought he would kill her. He locked me up for an hour. Then I knew I had to run away.'
After escaping with her daughter, Damaris found support from the charity Action Aid, who have a women's network in Kongelai.
She said the charity's help has been invaluable to her as she tries to move on and build a new life for her and her daughter.
She said: 'Action Aid gives us hope and strength. Every time I leave the meetings I feel really hopeful. I have learnt that I have the right not to accept FGM and anything to do with FGM.
Daily Mail.
