RHODubai

‘RHODubai’ star Chaney Ayan opens up about forced genital mutilation. Images via Instagram @chanelayan.

‘I am a survivor’: ‘RHODubai’ star suffered ‘barbaric’ genital mutilation

‘RHODubai’ star Chanel Ayan opened up about ‘barbaric’ forced genital mutiliation which she and her sister were subjected to at age five.

RHODubai

‘RHODubai’ star Chaney Ayan opens up about forced genital mutilation. Images via Instagram @chanelayan.

Real Housewives of Dubai (RHODubai) star Chanel Ayan opened up about surviving forced genital mutilation at the age of five in an interview with E! News on Wednesday 17 August.

‘RHODubai’: CHANEL AYAN SURVIVED FORCED GENITAL MUTILATION 

RHODubai star Chanel Ayan – who is of Somali and Ethiopian descent – revealed that she and her sister were both subjected to forced female circumcision in an interview with E! News. This was reportedly so she and her sister would remain virgins until marriage.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), female genital mutilation (FGM) involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs. This is for non-medical reasons.

“I’m a survivor,” she said to E! News.

“I felt that I was utterly betrayed by my culture and my family. This is just a barbaric practice and it shouldn’t be happening to young girls. It happened to me 35 years ago and I’ve never gotten over it,” she continued.

This is a practice that still happens in Africa, Middle East and Asia.

RHODubai
‘RHODubai’ star Chaney Ayan opens up about forced genital mutilation. Images via Instagram @chanelayan.

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AYAN: ‘IT’S A WAY TO KEEP MEN SATISFIED’

According to the publication, Ayan and her sister were taken to a stranger’s house by their grandmother and aunt, where and a man painfully “sewed” up their genitals.

Ayan explained that in her culture it is done to keep women as virgins.

“In my culture, it’s done to keep women virgins,” she said.

“Everybody’s a virgin in my culture because of this. Because how are you going to have sex when you’re sewn as a girl until you get married? It’s a way to keep men satisfied,” she continued.

“This is practised in over 28 African countries, the Middle East, Syria, Yemen. Even in America, I have cousins and family that still find ways to do it to the young girls behind the scenes, because you don’t need a doctor. You just need someone who knows how to do it,” she added.

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