Crown Princess Mary of Denmark was said to have been left ‘shaken up’ after talking about the harsh reality of child marriage and female genital mutilation during an emotional visit to Ethiopia.
During the official three-day humanitarian visit last week, the Danish Royal visited a refugee camp in Gambella and spoke with locals in the Afar region – one of the hottest places on earth.
The mother of four was met by a group of ethnic Afar men performing a welcome dance when she arrived in the region in her United Nations four wheel drive.
With the Danish Minister for Trade and Development Cooperation, Mogens Jensen, by her side Princess Mary spoke to brightly dressed villagers about the reality of female genital mutilation and child marriages in the African nation.
‘You do get shaken up by the knowledge that such a practice still exists but we have to think beyond judging it,’ Crown Princess Mary told TV2 Denmark.
Princess Mary listened intently as mothers shared stories of their daughters suffering infections and complications from the procedure, which the United Nations condemns as a violation of human rights.
The 42-year-old future Queen took the time to visit 91-year-old Australian doctor Catherine Hamlin and the patients at Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital during her three day visit. Dr Hamlin, who has lived in Africa for 55 years, embraced Australian-born Mary as she toured the hospital speaking with patients, staff and even visiting a baby girl born on the day she arrived. The philanthropist has made it her mission to cure the women who suffer from obstetric fistula, a condition endured from obstructed labour.
While obstetric fistula was eradicated in the western world in the 1920s, many developing countries still have hundreds of thousands of women who suffer from the injury, which is a hole in the bladder or bowel that requires surgery.
Dr Hamlin established the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital and the Hamlin College of Midwives in the 1950s, and then expanded the operations to five other hospitals.
Last week’s visit to Ethiopia was the second and longest trip for Princess Mary, who is a United Nations patron.
