A 19-year-old girl in Gothenburg has been awarded compensation after having been subjected to genital mutilation in Somalia as an 11-year-old.

Then 11-years-old, the girl was taken on holiday to Somalia in 2001. While there she was subjected to genital mutilation.

She was held down by her mother and two other women while her clitoris and inner labia were removed by a man in return for payment.

The girl’s vagina was then sewn up down to the opening of her urethra. The whole procedure was conducted without anaesthetic.

For several years after the violation the girl was subjected to repeated examinations by her mother who forced her fingers into her vagina to check that her virginity remained intact.

She also repeatedly assaulted her daughter with various implements including books, a curtain rail and a belt.

The girl’s mother later explained in her court trial that the girl was taken to Somalia to be “cleansed”.

The mother was later convicted for the violation in the Court of Appeal (Hovrätten) and ordered to pay her daughter 450,000 kronor in compensation.

In its decision to award the damages to the 19-year-old the Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority wrote that the “genital mutilation resembled torture and was intended to limit her possibilities to have a normal sex life.”

For the “exceptionally serious violation of her personal integrity” and the subsequent abuse, the girl was awarded a total of 390,000 kronor.

The authority will also later consider whether the girl is entitled to further damages for pain and suffering.

Source: Thelocal.se

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