Julia Fox criticised over 'disgusting' vagina bikini outfit by FGM campaigners

This article contains a graphic description of FGM

Female genital mutilation campaigners have criticised a provocative outfit worn by actress Julia Fox, branding it “disgusting” and “triggering”.

Fox posed for paparazzi shots in Los Angeles on 11 April, when she was photographed wearing a hiked-up white dress that exposed parts of a flesh-coloured bikini showing an image of a sewn-up vagina.

FGM campaigners have criticised the bikini because the image is similar to what is classified as “type 3” - a form of FGM that is considered the most extreme in which the vaginal opening is narrowed through the creation of a covering seal.

The image was posted to Instagram by Bustle, a female-focused news website, where it subsequently went viral as activists criticised the outfit.

Shamsa Araweelo, an FGM survivor and activist, told Yahoo News she was “mortified” when she saw the image.

“I was absolutely disgusted, mortified,” Araweelo, the 30-year-old campaigner who has previously written about her FGM experience for Yahoo News, said. “Even now talking about it, I am shaken to my core because she's wearing the scars of survivors of female genital mutilation without any regard for them whatsoever.”

She said Fox’s actions had “glamorised” the practice, adding: “Privilege blinds people. It really does because you don't get to see the pain of others. You get to wear it as if it's a costume, it’s not Halloween.”

It is unclear exactly why Fox wore the bikini, but in an interview with Elle from February 2023, Fox spoke about being “done” with men. She said, “I feel like knowingly engaging in a heterosexual relationship, you are signing yourself up for an unhealthy dynamic.”

Fox has previously worn outlandish outfits. Earlier in the month, she wore a blazer with hair and beauty tools attached, while her shoes had hair extensions.

Yahoo News has contacted Fox’s representatives for a response.

Hibo Wardere, an author and FGM campaigner from London, posted similar criticism in a video to X (formerly known as Twitter) in which said she was lost for words. She said: “When I saw that picture yesterday of this lady wearing underwear depicting our trauma, it was unbelievable.

“She is somebody who likes to create shock for her own gain, personal gain. Nothing to do with helping women. For her to depict and dehumanise our trauma is unbelievable.”

Another campaigner, Dr Leyla Hussein, said she was overwhelmed by the image as people kept tagging her. Dr Hussein, the founder of The Dahlia Project, which supports survivors of Female Genital Mutilation, wrote: “It's akin to tagging a rape victim with images of rape. We must be more considerate and sensitive. Please do better.”

The World Health Organisation says that around three million girls undergo some form of the procedure every year in Africa alone. More than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone FGM in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, where FGM is practiced.

FGM is also found in the UK where is estimated that approximately 60,000 girls aged 0-14 were born in England and Wales to mothers who had undergone FGM.

In February, a woman was convicted in the UK of handing over a three-year-old British girl for FGM during a trip to Kenya in a legal first. Amina Noor, 40, from Harrow, north-west London, was found guilty last year of assisting a non-UK person to carry out the procedure overseas 18 years ago. She was jailed for seven years.

Araweelo urged Fox to respond to the criticism, saying the outfit could be used to justify FGM in some countries. “Now those men are going to look at that and clap for it, closed for business is a way to stop men from having sex with you.”

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