Female Circumcision in Hibo Wardere’s Cut: A Trauma-Informed Reading
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31185/wjfh.Vol21.Iss4.1350Keywords:
female circumcision or FGM; Hibo Wardere; memoir; Judith Herman; trauma recoveryAbstract
This research analyzes Hibo Wardere’s memoir (which is a non-fiction genre) entitled Cut: One Woman’s Fight Against FGM in Britain Today (2016) through the lens of Judith Herman’s trauma recovery theory in her seminal book Trauma and Recovery (1992). Wardere’s narrative of undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) at age six and her journey of healing is examined in light of Herman’s three-stage recovery model: establishing safety, remembrance and mourning, and reconnection. Using close reading of the memoir alongside trauma theory, the analysis demonstrates how Wardere’s testimony exemplifies each stage of recovery – from reclaiming control over her body and environment, to breaking years of silence by narrating her trauma, to transforming her pain into activism and community engagement. The study highlights the therapeutic power of testimony and the memoir’s dual impact as a survivor’s healing narrative and a form of social witness against FGM.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Sarraa Akram Rizij Dahab, Prof.Dr. Lamiaa Ahmed Rasheed
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
