Asha Mohamed Ali is a 33-year-old single mother of five children: two daughters and three sons. Since her partner passed away a year ago, she is raising her children on her own.  Displaced from Qoryoley, in Lower Shabelle, she currently lives in the Igadabagey settlement in Daynile district.

Asha used to believe that practicing Female Genital Mutilation was as a duty as part of her religion, but after receiving visits from Somali Community Concern (SCC) community mobilizers, who discussed with and informed her about the health consequences and the general impact FGM has on survivors, she promised to abandon it.

She says that she now understands that religion does not inflict harm to children and that FGM is a harmful practice and a human rights abuse against girls and women. She deeply regrets that one of her daughters underwent FGM, while they were still living as a family in Qoryoley. She remembers vividly how painful it was for her daughter, and how she suffered.

While holding her 11-month-old baby girl, she promised that she will not subject her too the cut. Asha has initiated conversations with her fellow mothers and colleagues during which she shares her knowledge about the harmful consequences of FGM, with the aim to empower others to also abandon the practice and cease to cut their girls.