Women who led

Hibo Wardere (Hibo Wardheere)

Hibo Wardere is a Somali-born British campaigner against female genital mutilation, author and speaker. She came to London as a refugee in 1989, works as an FGM educator and mediator for Waltham Forest, trains doctors and police, and published her memoir Cut in 2016.

Last checked 2026-11-12 1 source Reading time: 1 min

Hibo WardereHibo Wardheere

Known as one of
Women who led
Era
The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
Sources
1 sources

Who is she?

Hibo Wardere is a Somali-born campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM), author and public speaker (Wikipedia, Hibo Wardere). She was subjected to FGM at the age of six, and came to London as a teenage refugee in 1989 (same source). She lives in Walthamstow (same source). See Somalis in London.

Campaigning

She has said that NHS doctors rarely asked about or recorded her FGM (Wikipedia). While training as a teaching assistant she wrote about her experience in an essay, and was then asked to speak to 120 teachers (same source). She went on to work as a mediator and FGM educator for Waltham Forest, helping pupils at risk and training doctors and police (same source).

Her story has appeared in the BBC, The Guardian and The Telegraph (same source). Her memoir, Cut, was published in April 2016 (same source).

In short

A London educator and author who has become one of Britain's best-known voices against FGM.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Hibo Wardere · en.wikipedia.org

Hibo WardereHibo Wardheere

Known as one of
Women who led
Era
The Republic, 1960 to 1991; Rebuilding without a state, 1991 to 2012; Who holds power, 2012 to now
Sources
1 sources

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