The Day Kadi Lost Part of Her Life

This is the moving photostory of a 4 year old African girl named Kadi, who is subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) in accordance with the traditions of her community. Black and white photographs document the activities of the day in which she undergoes this operation and an explanatory text details exactly what FGM entails. This is a unique book, being the first photo documentation of the practice. The story is personal and emotive, and the photographs, although confronting, depict the events with delicacy and are of very high quality. Significantly, the book focuses on the immediate experience of a child undergoing FGM, separating it from other recent accounts which have been written from the perspective of adult females looking back on their childhood.