https://www.diarimes.com/es/tarragona/241011/fatou-nyang-activista-trabaja-parar-mutilacion-genital-femenina-gambia_152993.html


Fighting against her family, against her friends, against her culture, her history and her tradition. This is what Fatou Nyang has been doing for more than fifteen years. Nyang was born in Tujereng , in the Kombo South region , a poor area of ​​Gambia.

There, 76% of women and one in two girls undergoes female genital mutilation . “It has been practiced for many years in several African countries. When I was a child and I went through it, I was indifferent. Because I had no information, I was not aware,” says Nyang .

That is until she started working for Wassu Kafo Gambia , an organisation that aims to prevent harmful traditional practices and child marriage. “My mother didn’t want me to go, she tried to stop me,” says Nyang . But nothing stopped her and once she joined the association, her mindset changed.

“I realised that it was not right. I didn’t want the women around me to have to go through that,” says the activist. From that moment on, in 2008, she began working to stop and eradicate it. “I started talking to my friends and asked for their support . In the end, it is a long and difficult road and you have to go little by little,” explains Nyang .

She has been speaking to those responsible for the practice for many years and explaining all the harm that female genital mutilation causes. “I always start at the top, with the grandparents of the families. You can’t just go straight to them and tell them to stop immediately. I try to speak respectfully and slowly convince them,” says the activist.

Although there is still a long way to  go , Nyang is happy  for all the people who have been able to become aware of the practice. “Now they realize that what  Fatou said was true, especially with regard to diseases, because there was a lot of ignorance,” says Nyang .
Training for doctors

From Wassu , they promote training in health centres in Gambia to improve the actions towards women who have undergone female genital circumcision. "Now they know the risk, they know what can happen. Years ago, this was not talked about," says Nyang . The activist has been in Tarragona this week.

“At first it was hard for me to talk about my experience, about how I suffered. But now I am not afraid anymore,” says Nyang . However, she receives many insults in her country and  on social networks. “They want to silence me and stop me, but they won’t succeed,” she says. Nyang gave a talk to students at the Vidal i Barraquer Institute .

«The response at the conferences is very good. I think that many people and young people in Europe know about circumcision. "The male side, but not the female side. And it shocks them a lot. They can't imagine that a woman can go through this kind of pain," she explains. Nyang 's daughter is already helping her in the fight and in the talks in Gambia and she has a clear objective. "I know that we will finish this and we will triumph, I have no doubt," she concludes.