Assita Kanko does not shy away from sensitive topics in a new podcast

MEP Assita Kanko launches a podcast, “Rebellious & Free”, in which she takes a closer look at sensitive issues related to freedom and equality. The launch date is not coincidentally 6 February, the international day against female genital mutilation. Assita Kanko, herself a survivor of this practice, takes a closer look at this issue in the first episodes of her podcast. It is still widespread worldwide and also threatens up to 500,000 girls in Europe.

In the podcast, Assita Kanko talks with, among others, doctor Pierre Foldès, who developed a method for surgically helping mutilated women and has performed almost 6,000 repair operations with his team. European Commissioner for Equal Opportunities Helena Dalli also speaks on the podcast. She points out that the practice also occurs in Europe, and she is therefore working on new legislation on the issue.

Medicalisation of genital mutilation

People are creative, sometimes in a negative sense. Apparently, there is a desire to circumvent the pressure and the ban on genital mutilation, for example, by “medicalisation”. The mutilation is then not performed by traditional circumcisers, but by healthcare professionals: midwives, nurses, gynaecologists, etc. But this medical genital mutilation is just as bad and sometimes worse, as we learn from the podcast.

You can find the podcast “Rebellious & Free” by Assita Kanko on Spotify.