Content Warning: This section includes descriptions of female genital mutilation.

Female genital mutilation, or FGM, involves the removal of part or all of the female external genitalia and may also involve suturing the outer labia together. This procedure is practiced in 30 countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. The World Health Organization estimates that as of 2023, 200 million girls and women alive today have experienced female genital mutilation. Approximately 3 million women are at risk of FGM each year. The procedure is usually carried out on girls before the age of 15. FGM is sometimes referred to as female circumcision, but many anti-FGM advocates consider the term misleading because FGM is not comparable to male circumcision; however, Dirie uses the term “circumcision” to refer to FGM throughout Desert Flower.

There are no health benefits to the practice. Immense harm occurs to girls and women subjected to the procedure, including severe pain, swelling, fever, infection, hemorrhaging, urinary problems, and shock. Some girls and women, like Dirie’s older sister Halemo, die from complications during or after the procedure, which is often performed in unsanitary conditions with no pain relief. FGM results in extreme pain and discomfort that often lasts for the entirety of the women’s lives.