Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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Sylvia Yeko decided to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) three weeks ago at the age of 26 - even though the practice, which used to be performed on teenage girls, was outlawed in Uganda in 2010.
Her circumcision ceremony took place in public - she showed us a video taken on the day. It shows an excited, cheering crowd surrounding Ms Yeko and another woman, whose faces are smeared with a whitish-brown flour.
They lie on bare grass with their legs open as an older woman approaches each in turn and swiftly cuts off their clitoris.
Neither of them screams because to do so would be a sign of weakness and would nullify what this community in eastern Uganda regard as a rite of passage before a woman can get married.
"During this day I felt so proud, I just felt so excited," Ms Yeko tells the BBC as she watches the footage.
"Before I was circumcised I was taken as any other child, but now I'm someone respected."
FGM convictions
She knows she could face up to five years in prison for being circumcised, but she insists that she wants to be identified.
Those who cut her genitals could be imprisoned for 10 years.
'Why I broke the law to undergo FGM aged 26'
I just think there are other ways to protest.
Her circumcision ceremony took place in public - she showed us a video taken on the day. It shows an excited, cheering crowd surrounding Ms Yeko and another woman, whose faces are smeared with a whitish-brown flour.
They lie on bare grass with their legs open as an older woman approaches each in turn and swiftly cuts off their clitoris.
Neither of them screams because to do so would be a sign of weakness and would nullify what this community in eastern Uganda regard as a rite of passage before a woman can get married.
"During this day I felt so proud, I just felt so excited," Ms Yeko tells the BBC as she watches the footage.
"Before I was circumcised I was taken as any other child, but now I'm someone respected."
FGM convictions
She knows she could face up to five years in prison for being circumcised, but she insists that she wants to be identified.
Those who cut her genitals could be imprisoned for 10 years.
'Why I broke the law to undergo FGM aged 26'
I just think there are other ways to protest.