“MY NAME is Ishtar and I am 28 years old. I would like to share my experience of undergoing female genital mutilation [FGM].

“This will be the first time I’ve ever written about my experience. This will be the one time the voice of the child within me will be heard.”

Ishtar was six years old when FGM was carried out on her. Her story was told by Fazia Hussain-Brown, a Unite full-time officer at the annual conference of the Trades Union Congress Northern region in Newcastle on Saturday.

It was the one contribution at the conference that brought the 120 delegates to their feet in a wave of emotion and outrage.

It led to the 120 delegates there committing their unions to campaigning, particularly through education, against FGM.

Hussain-Brown continued with Ishtar’s story to a hushed conference hall.

“I was six years old when it happened. All I know is that I was playing outside our house with other children who lived nearby.

“I also remember a lot of relatives and family friends were at the house, a lot of food and sweets were cooked that day, but strangely my parents weren’t there. I didn’t think much of it at the time.

“The nightmare started as my younger sister was called into the house by our aunts. I followed but was told to wait outside. Again I didn’t think much of it at the time.

“One of my neighbour’s daughters who was playing with me came to me. ‘You must be excited,’ she said. My response was: ‘What for?’ I didn’t know what she was talking about.

“‘You will be a big girl now. All you have to do is be very brave and don’t cry.’ I still didn’t understand what she meant.

“When she explained what was going to happen to me, all I wanted was my mum to come and rescue me.

“I ran so fast to hide in the house. At the same time I can hear my little sister scream. I have never heard such a scream. Even today when I shut my eyes I can hear her screaming.

“‘Get Ishtar, it’s her turn,’ I could hear my aunt saying.

“I kept running around the house until I got caught and was dragged to the table where I was surrounded by two of my aunts, one of our neighbours and two men.

“I didn’t realise who they were at the time but realised that one of them was the ‘circumciser.’ Well, that’s what people call them. If I had to give them a title now it would be ‘the children’s butcher.’

“The other man grabbed my legs and tried to pull them apart. I fought him as much as I could but I was only six years old. I had no energy left within me when he succeeded.

“I remember him saying to me: ‘Behave, you silly girl and stop crying. It doesn’t hurt’.”

“The lower part of my body was out of control. I tried to move the upper part of my body, but my aunts held me down and stuffed a big cloth in my mouth so I wouldn’t scream so loud.

“God, that’s all they were worried about. All I wanted was my mother. She was always there for me. Why not this time?

“When he was done, I felt so ashamed that these people saw my private parts and these men actually touched it and hurt me.

“‘Brave girl Ishtar,’ everybody said. I remember getting a lot of sweets, toys and money to congratulate me.

“As I got older I realised the damage FGM has caused me physically and mentally. The mental scar I carry still today is very difficult to explain.

“I’ve blocked it out for many years, pretended that it never happened, but I could no longer ignore it, especially after my beautiful little girl was born.

“I knew as a mother I couldn’t let that happen to my daughter. Please support me and other girls like me.”

Hussein-Brown, who told the story, is also 28, and recently gave birth to a daughter.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) raised the proposal at the conference for unions to raise awareness of FGM, its effects, and take steps to eradicate it.

RCM delegate Rebecca Banks, who proposed the motion, dispelled any myth that the practice was based on some kind of religious belief.

“The World Health Organisation says it is rooted in deep inequality between sexes,” she said. “It predates Islam.

“FGM gives rise to physical health complications, severe pain, often carried out without pain relief,” she said.

The RCM motion said that FGM affects 200 million women world-wide, and that 137,000 women in the UK are living with its effects today, while a further 60,000 under the age of 15 are at risk.

Ms Banks said: “We ask that you put the issue on the agenda. It is brutal and gender-inspired.”

A delegate from the Fire Brigades Union said that there had not been a single prosecution for FGM in Britain.

“The main barrier to prosecution is that the child protection system in this country is not geared up to deal with this issue. Trying to secure a successful prosecution relies on the victim giving evidence, and that can be from children having to give evidence about their parents.”

He said unions should call on the government to put in place measures “to prevent this barbaric practice.”

The conference gave unanimous support to the RCM motion.

Peter Lazenby is the Morning Star’s northern reporter.