Excerpt:
Maryam* has just come out of surgery at the West London African Women's Community Clinic. The 24-year-old Londoner was a victim of female genital mutilation (FGM) in her home country, Somalia.
The West London clinic offers a vital service for FGM survivors. Maryam has just had "reversal" surgery, a procedure to open up the vagina, which had been sewn up during FGM. "It's amazing, I didn't realize I wouldn't feel pain," she said. "My legs were shaking from fear but I didn't feel a thing."
Maryam was 10-years-old when she was "cut" in Somalia. "I remember the day," she recalled. "My mum sent me to the shop to get a needle and thread. I knew what was going on. The old lady had already done it to girls on my street that day. I felt ashamed if I didn't do it.