As part of the UN's efforts to end female genital mutilation, the organization sponsors the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation every year on February 6. It was initially shown in 2003.
We'll let you know as soon as the 2023 International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital is announced.
Accelerating Investment to End Female Genital Mutilation was the theme of the 2022 International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation.
In order to end female genital mutilation by 2021, the UNFPA and UNICEF together announced the theme "No Time for Global Inaction, Unite, Fund, and Act to End Female Genital Mutilation." The UN has issued a call to action to reconsider how we create our society so that every woman and girl can make decisions for their own lives and be empowered. This expanding epidemic has led to the expansion of this practice.
FGM, also known as female genital mutilation, is a harmful procedure in which a woman's female genitalia are partially or completely removed or damaged in an effort to stifle her sexual desires. The mutilation is typically carried out on girls between the ages of four and eight before they reach puberty, but in recent years, it has increasingly been done on infants who are only a few days, weeks, or months old.
"Women's devotion must be won by tenderness and trust rather than cruel rituals. The time has arrived to stop suffering in the old ways."
"I have always known that I will one day struggle against this procedure, even on the day of my own mutilation. I had no idea when or how I would battle it, but I did."
"I am aware of why I am fighting. I stand up for the fundamental rights of helpless children. And for that reason, I never take criticism personally."
"We shouldn't adhere to customs that violate human rights because we are human beings and create our own traditions."
Tostan's Community Empowerment Program (CEP) is an example of how community-led participatory critical awareness-raising and social learning processes may empower individuals, support them in changing social norms and behaviors, and spark a larger movement. Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and early marriage have been openly denounced by an estimated 5.5 million individuals in 8,830 villages across West Africa, and the movement is continuously expanding. By 2011, 5,315 communities in Senegal had taken part in 56 public declarations to end FGM/C, and the practice had decreased by more than half in the participating villages.
The initiative has had beneficial effects on governance, education, health, the environment, and the economy in a variety of communities from eight West and East African countries. It has also had positive effects on other areas of gender equality. Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Somalia, Gambia, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau.
"Don't snuff out their hopes. A project called "Saving a girl is saving a generation" aims to educate people and provide training in order to prevent and end female genital mutilation and other harmful cultural practices.
The NGO Save a Girl Save a Generation and Acción en Red, who have been working together for more than three years in various spheres of activity with a population of African descent, together carry out this project.
Its primary goal is to provide training in preventing and eradicating FGM to professionals working with families from African and Asian nations, mostly health professionals working in hospitals and health centers (family doctors, gynecologists, pediatricians, nurses, etc.) social workers, cross-cultural mediators, and comparable university students.
Training in sexual and reproductive health for both men and women from African and Asian nations is another important component of the project. African activists who are involved in the project's coordination and management also do other learning that is more explicitly targeted at women. A working group called BATOU-Women-Femmes-Women has been formed to achieve this goal. It is made up of European and African women from various nations and cultures. Its goal is to strengthen professional ties to reject traditions that harm women and increase awareness of their rights to equality and freedom.
The Orchid Project is accelerating change by working with trailblazing grassroots organizations worldwide and exchanging knowledge and best practices to end female genital cutting (FGC). We also urge governments and other world leaders to prioritize the fight to eradicate FGC.
Through non-judgmental, human rights-led approaches, which provide communities the freedom to decide whether or not to stop using FGC, one of the most successful ways to enable sustained abandonment of the practice.
FGC is a firmly ingrained social custom that a whole neighborhood upholds. In order to secure their daughters' futures and because it is the custom of the neighborhood, parents cut their daughters' hair. Individual families find it challenging to depart from this custom on their own since they run the risk of their daughters being shunned.
Communities that join together to discuss their FGC experiences, shattering the taboo that frequently surrounds the practice, may and are bringing about change. Communities all across the world are realizing the harm caused by the practice because of locally owned processes.
Communities are learning about human rights and accepting their obligation as community members to uphold them as a result of these dialogues. Additionally, as cutting is a discriminatory practice, long-lasting reform is frequently achieved in contexts that emphasize empowering women and girls.
As a rite of passage, certain ethnic groups engage in ritual mutilation such as scarification, burning, flagellation, tattooing, or wheeling. The term may occasionally refer to how dead remains are handled, such as when troops are disfigured after being slain by an enemy. Another type of mutilation is castration.
A network of 36 organizations working to secure long-term European action to prevent female genital mutilation makes up the End FGM European Network (End FGM EU).
The Network works to establish relationships and cooperative relationships with all key players in the field of FGM in both Europe and around the world. Giving community voices a platform can persuade European leaders to take action to end FGM.
Stop FGM Communities, NGOs, CSOs, and stakeholders at the EU level can engage, interact, and collaborate with one another by exchanging information and experiences in the EU. Through these discussions, the Network identifies critical issues that must be addressed to advance the fight against FGM and provide possibilities for Members to succeed in their work.
