Real Housewives Of Dubai Star Chanel Ayan Opens Up About Suffering From Depression Post Receiving Backlash For Opening Up About Circumcision (2024)

Chanel Ayan opens up about her traumatic experience with FGM and the depression she faced after sharing her story on The Real Housewives of Dubai.

Chanel Ayan (Getty Images)

Warning: This article discusses female genital mutilation (FGM) and related trauma, which may be distressing to some readers

In August 2022, Chanel Ayan confronted a painful part of her past during an episode of The Real Housewives of Dubai. During a hypnotherapy session with co-star Sara Al Madani, the supermodel revealed she had undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) at the age of five without her mother's knowledge.

Now, over two years later, Ayan is opening up about the mental struggles she faced after sharing her story publicly for the first time.

Chanel Ayan shares about suffering from depression post revealing about her FGM

In an interview with DECIDER, Ayan admitted she was "scared" to return for Season 2 of The Real Housewives of Dubaibecause she was dealing with depression after revealing her FGM experience.

The World Health Organization defines FGM as “a violation of the human rights of girls and women” involving the partial or total removal of external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

Ayan explained that she faced a lot of bullying for speaking out about FGM. "I come from a culture that is very closed," she said. “We marry each other, we’re 100% Muslim, nobody talks about FGM like it’s something bad, I was talking about things that I’m not supposed to talk about. So I got a lot of backlash from that.”

This led to severe depression, with Ayan saying, “I got so depressed. I wasn’t leaving my house. I was really in, I would say, the darkest moments of my life before we started filming.”

The backlash even affected her family. Ayan's father, who she previously said tried to sell her into marriage at 14, "went home and beat up" her sister after the episode aired. This added to her depression, which she initially thought was a "Westernized" concept.

"I could not stop myself from crying," she shared to the outlet,“I could not stop myself from crying. It was that bad to the point where I would wake up my husband in the middle of the night and be like, ‘I need to talk to you because I’m having really bad thoughts, like, I need to talk to you. This is really hard on me right now.'”

Chanel Ayan aims to raise awareness about FGM

Despite her struggles, Ayan is using her platform to raise awareness about FGM. With Gambia recently considering overturning a ban on FGM, she feels it's crucial to speak out. "It cannot be about me if African countries are bringing it back. How can I sleep at night knowing that this is happening to children?" she said.

Ayan hopes that by sharing her story, she can change her mind and help prevent other young girls from experiencing the same trauma.

The Real Housewives of DubaiSeason 2 premieres on Sunday, June 2 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Starting Tuesday, June 11, the series will move to its regular timeslot of Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

If you or someone you know is affected by female genital mutilation (FGM) or related trauma, please seek support.

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