‘Something has been taken away’: Pakistan’s well-kept FGM secret

Aalia, an FGM survivor from Pakistan's Dawoodi Bohra community, who still grapples with a sense of betrayal — but now wants to speak out [Courtesy Aaliya/Al Jazeera]

Seven-year-old Mariam was excited. Her mother had dressed her up in her favourite powder pink frock, with her hair in two pigtails held with butterfly clips, and had told her she would be going to a surprise birthday party for her cousin.

Instead, her aunt took Mariam, holding hands, to a worn-down building with layers of peeling walls and a cold metal table waiting inside.