
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


In northern Tanzania there is a tradition of FGM - female genital mutilation. The 'cutting season' lasts for six weeks. Afterwards, the adolescent victims are often expected to marry. But girls in Serengeti District are saying 'no' to FGM. And dozens of them have fled to a new safe house in the town of Mugumu to escape this bloody, life-threatening rite of passage. For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly travels to Mugumu to meet the girls - and the woman who has given them refuge, Rhobi Samwelly. She listens in as Rhobi engages in delicate and often emotional negotiations with parents intent on mutilating their daughters. Will the girls ever feel safe enough to return home?
By BBC Radio 44.7
7575 ratings
In northern Tanzania there is a tradition of FGM - female genital mutilation. The 'cutting season' lasts for six weeks. Afterwards, the adolescent victims are often expected to marry. But girls in Serengeti District are saying 'no' to FGM. And dozens of them have fled to a new safe house in the town of Mugumu to escape this bloody, life-threatening rite of passage. For Crossing Continents, Linda Pressly travels to Mugumu to meet the girls - and the woman who has given them refuge, Rhobi Samwelly. She listens in as Rhobi engages in delicate and often emotional negotiations with parents intent on mutilating their daughters. Will the girls ever feel safe enough to return home?

7,683 Listeners

377 Listeners

891 Listeners

1,065 Listeners

5,476 Listeners

1,805 Listeners

970 Listeners

592 Listeners

1,764 Listeners

1,057 Listeners

2,110 Listeners

2,078 Listeners

477 Listeners

107 Listeners

44 Listeners

41 Listeners

403 Listeners

739 Listeners

238 Listeners

161 Listeners

76 Listeners

3,208 Listeners

731 Listeners

1,037 Listeners