By Ibrahim Sesay
It was in a moment of fear and desperation, while trying to escape grave danger that Suadu Sumah came across one of our ace reporters, Alvin Lansana Kargbo. Exhausted and shaken, she stopped long enough to explain the ordeal that has turned her life into a fight for survival. Her voice carried both pain and determination as she spoke of her past as a survivor of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and her present battle to protect her four-year-old daughter from the same fate.
“I was cut as a baby,” she said quietly, her face tightening as she forced out the words. “I never had a choice. They did it to me when I was too small to understand. But the pain has followed me every day of my life. And now they want to do the same to my daughter.”
Suadu Sumah explained to reporter Alvin Lansana Kargbo that she had endured a lifetime of suffering since undergoing FGM in Sierra Leone. The procedure, performed without anesthesia or medical care, left her with chronic pain, repeated infections, difficulties during childbirth and lasting psychological scars. “It destroyed my health and it destroyed my marriage,” she admitted. “But worst of all, it destroyed my sense of safety in my own body.”
Now, she fears the cycle of violence is tightening around her daughter. According to Suadu Sumah, her former mother-in-law has been relentless in demanding that the child be subjected to the ritual. The threats, she says, have been direct and explicit, accompanied by warnings that her life will be in danger if she continues to resist.
These are not idle threats. In August 2021, Suadu Sumah was ambushed by armed men in Sierra Leone. She survived the attack but described it as a deliberate warning to comply with cultural expectations. “That night, I realized they would do whatever it takes to break me,” she told Alvin Lansana Kargbo. More recently, during a visit to Sierra Leone in December 2024, she was once again targeted, narrowly escaping another assault that left her deeply shaken. Those incidents confirmed to her that the threats are escalating and deadly serious.
Female Genital Mutilation remains one of the most widespread and harmful practices in Sierra Leone, often enforced through family and community pressure. It is framed by some as a rite of passage, but its consequences are devastating. Survivors endure lifelong health complications, from infections to infertility and are haunted by the trauma of being violated at such a young age. International organizations have long condemned FGM as a gross violation of human rights, yet the practice persists, fueled by tradition and fear of ostracism.
Suadu Sumah’s story, shared in such a vulnerable moment, revealed both the immense cost of FGM and the extraordinary courage it takes to resist it. “If I give in, my daughter’s life will be destroyed before it even begins,” she said, her voice breaking. “But if I continue to refuse, they may kill me. Either way, the danger is real.”
Her refusal to comply has placed her in open conflict with powerful cultural forces, leaving her vulnerable to violence from those determined to uphold tradition. Eyewitnesses who have followed her case describe her situation as perilous, stressing that both she and her daughter are under credible threat.
As she spoke with Alvin Lansana Kargbo, her story unfolded as both personal testimony and universal warning. Suadu Sumah embodies the struggle of countless women across Sierra Leone who wish to break the cycle of FGM but find themselves trapped between cultural expectations and the instinct to protect their children.
The pain in her eyes was unmistakable as she summed up her ordeal. “I am living proof of what FGM does,” she said. “Every day I feel its pain. Every day I carry its scars. But I will not let them put those same scars on my little girl. I would rather risk my life than allow that to happen.”
Her words leave no doubt that this is not simply a family dispute but a crisis that strikes at the heart of human dignity and safety. For Suadu Sumah, every step she takes away from danger is a step toward hope but the shadow of FGM looms over her and her daughter like a persistent threat.
In telling her story to our reporter, she gave voice to a struggle that is often hidden in silence and fear. Her defiance may have placed her life in peril, but it has also illuminated the courage of a mother determined to protect her child from the same suffering that has defined her own life.
