Quick Facts
Biography
Hibo Wardere is a Somalian-born campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM), author, and public speaker. Born in Somalia, she moved to London, England, as a teenager to flee the Somali Civil War. She currently resides in Walthamstow, London, where she works as a mediator and a regular FGM educator for Waltham Forest Borough. Her testimonials and campaigning work have appeared in publications, including the Telegraph, the BBC, and The Guardian.
Early life
Hibo Wardere was born in Somalia. At the age of six, she was the victim of type 3 FGM, an event she has described as "being engulfed in pain from head to toe". Every day for the next ten years, she sought answers from her mother, but was always denied a response. When Hibo was 16, she finally struck a deal with a relative, who promised to tell her everything about what happened after her wedding night. She was horrified by the revelations, and soon fled to London after the civil war broke out in the 1980s.
Activism
When she arrived in London, Hibo sought treatment for her wounds, but received little support from the NHS. Doctors failed to ask what had happened to her, and only rarely mentioned FGM on her medical files, even when she gave birth to her seven children.
Hibo eventually found the answers she was looking for at the library, where she read about female mutilation in a book. Years later, when she was studying to become a teaching assistant, she opened up about her story in a homework essay. The head of staff read her work and asked her to deliver a speech to 120 teachers, during which some realised that their students might have experienced the same trauma. After reading Hibo’s essay, school governor Clare Coghill booked Hibo appointments with other schools in the area. Hibo has worked as a mediator and FGM educator since then, helping young students escape FGM.
Her testimonies have appeared in numerous publications, including the BBC, the Guardian and the Telegraph.
Her memoir, Cut, was published in April 2016.