Idris Elba’s wife Sabrina has revealed her mother was a victim of female genital mutilation while growing up in Somalia.
The model and and goodwill ambassador of the United Nations, 34, told on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast how her mum Maryam Egal was subject to the procedure.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
The practice has no health benefits for girls and women and cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
As a consequence Maryam almost died giving birth to Sabrina because of the health complications it has caused.
Horrible: Idris Elba’s wife Sabrina has revealed her mother Maryam Egal was a victim of female genital mutilation while growing up in Somalia (seen with her mother in September 2022)
Tough: The model and and goodwill ambassador of the United Nations, 34, told on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast how her mum was subject to the procedure
Sabrina supports several campaigns against FGM which she believes is her ‘moral duty’.
Speaking about her mother on the podcast she said: ‘My mom was actually trying to protect me so much from some of the stuff that she was going through or facing and I was actually having a conversation this morning and I was thinking about it.
‘For instance, I am a huge advocate against FGM, which is female genital mutilation. It’s quite common in Somalia, but actually happens all around the world.
‘I knew my mom was a victim, but I was at the House of Commons, I was there advocating and speaking with some of the survivors, and they were talking about the difficulties during childbirth because of what they’d gone through and I call my mom, and I was like, ‘oh, mom, you know, some of the people I was talking to had gone through this.’
‘And she’s like, ‘You don’t even know that I almost died giving birth to you.’ And I just immediately was like, ‘what?’ These conversations we didn’t have because she was trying to protect me.
‘I still fell into, you know, advocating for things that had happened to her because I think subconsciously what I was doing was trying to create a better world for the little girl that my mom was without even knowing it and kind of knowing it, because I knew that she’d been through these things.’
She added: ‘But it’s so hard to have these conversations with your parents. Like, they’re emotional ones.
Terrible: As a consequence Maryam almost died giving birth to Sabrina because of the health complications it has caused
Kind: Sabrina has been an advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls worldwide for many years, becoming a UN goodwill ambassador alongside her husband in April 2020 (seen with Idris in September 2023)
‘And I cannot tell you that day, I was like, ‘I just want to do so much more. I can do more. It’s not enough.’
‘And there’s so many people like her who suffer in silence because they have to be or need to be powerful because the world doesn’t give them a leg up, you know, and my mom is a massive inspiration in my life.’
Sabrina has been an advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls worldwide for many years, becoming a UN goodwill ambassador alongside her husband in April 2020.
It comes after last week Sabrina opened up about teaming up with her husband Idris as they launched their own skincare line, S’ABLE Labs.
Sabrina, who met the 51-year-old actor in 2017 before they tied the knot in 2019, was at BeautyCon in Los Angeles to launch her line.
She opened up in a wide-ranging interview with People where she discussed how different it has been working with her husband – days after the couple were spotted at the Defender Rugby World Cup in Paris.
The model and media personality admitted there was, ‘a big learning curve’ when i came to working with her husband.
‘It’s not a perfect tie-in, but we’ve definitely developed ways of working together,’ Sabrina said.
‘We started a podcast to kind of see how other people were doing it, and we learned so much,’ she added.
‘I think it’s having correct boundaries and understanding that like you know, finding work is not the same as finding a date night,’ she added.
‘There are appropriate avenues — work hours, for instance, that’s been a big learning curve for me,’ she admitted.
The S’ABLE Labs skincare line is an extension of the wellness brand they both launched back in 2021.
She added that she, ‘can’t imagine doing it with anyone else,’ other than her husband Idris.
Sabrina was born and raised in Canada but is of Somali descent, revealing the reasions behind creating the line.
‘Growing up I always thought there was nothing that addressed my unique skincare concerns, especially when it comes to having melanin rich skin,’ she said.
‘So things like post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Just finding products that address it holistically rather than trying to solve the problem after the fact,’ Sabrina said.
Together: Brunette beauty Sabrina met the 51-year-old actor in 2017 before they tied the knot in 2019
‘We’re looking at how we inhibit melanin excess production in the first place. So we’re making antioxidants, we’re making anti-inflammatories,’ she said.
‘There’s so many amazing ingredients on the (African) continent that are so popular that I watched my mom use growing up. So just trying to get that all in,’ Sabrina add
Sabrina adds that she and Idris intended their skincare products to have ‘minimum impact on the planet’ with ‘maximum’ results.
‘Black consumers, really do care about the planet as well. They care about the luxury of their products without having to pay exorbitant prices or just good quality ingredients that we feel we’ve created,’ she explained.
