Ending FGM in their generation
6 young campaigners changing lives
200 million girls and women worldwide are living with the consequences of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). That’s why the UK government is supporting the Africa-led campaign to end the practice within a generation.
And change is already happening. With support from UK aid and other donors, more than 13,000 communities - over 10 million people - have pledged to ban the practice altogether. And in the last 12 months both Nigeria and The Gambia have banned the practice altogether.
Meet 6 inspirational young people who, supported by UK aid, have been at the heart of the campaign to end FGM for good.
1. Nice, Kenya
“I managed to run away from FGM and this motivated me to campaign and ensure that FGM is abandoned.”
With the help of The Girl Generation, Nice has been working with the Maasai community in Kenya’s Kajiado County to support them in efforts to ban FGM. Her approach has been to promote community-led alternate rites of passage and help girls get a good education. FGM is often part of wider initiation rites of passage into womanhood. Nice and others are working to continue to respect these initiation rites but with the exclusion of FGM within them.
2. Muna, United Kingdom
“Ending FGM means our generation acknowledging that women’s bodies are their own.”
Muna’s mother and grandmother were born in Somalia, a country where the over 90% of girls undergo FGM. This made Muna realise that her mum and grandmother had probably been cut. This personal and close connection inspired Muna to campaign to end FGM, a campaign which has thrown up some challenges.
“The more research we did the more doors were shut in our faces and we decided that it was up to us to spread the message.”
The FGM campaign work she was doing in her local area as part of Integrate Bristol led to her becoming involved with UK aid supported Youth For Change. She has attended events, put on talks at schools, appeared in national newspapers, and debated on the radio, all to raise awareness of FGM and its harmful effects.
3. Petrider, Tanzania
“ The thought of this happening to girls like me, in my own country, made me want to be part of making change happen.”
From its UK based origins, Youth For Change now have campaigners in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh. One of the new panel members is Petrider, who decided to get involved when she realised that she could make a real difference to girls in her own community.
“My proudest moment was when I talked to survivors of FGM, encouraging them that they didn’t need to feel any less, or different, nor fixate on the experience of being cut. They need to be the ones to influence change in their communities, to enable an FGM free zone in the coming generations.”
But Petrider’s work has gone beyond Tanzania. In September she participated in the 2015 Youth Summit in London where she met International Development Secretary Justine Greening and fellow young campaigners from all over the world.
Young people like Petrider have ensured that FGM is now being widely debated and bit by bit, community by community, country by country, change is happening.
4. Haddy, The Gambia
“I am happy that FGM has been outlawed, but more work needs to be done to enable people to understand that it is time to change and it is time to protect women and girls from FGM. This is just the beginning.”
These are the fighting words of Haddy, a 20-year-old law student speaking after The Gambia announced it will ban FGM. She is part of an anti-FGM youth coalition, which is supported by UK aid funded The Girl Generation. Through her work Haddy has become part of Gambia’s National Youth Forum on FGM and hosts a Gambian radio show where she encourages listeners to discuss issues affecting young people, including FGM:
“I have seen the amount of harm it has brought upon many people that I know of and I have no doubt that it must stop.”
Haddy explains that it’s her work with the National Youth Forum is that has had real impact on the successful campaign to ban FGM in The Gambia:
“Being the first of its kind, the forum served as a turning point in the campaign within The Gambia. Youth are now more involved, more aware and have shown dedication in taking advantage of their strength to speak up.”
By working alongside other young campaigners they are able to speak as one, showing their leaders that they no longer want girls and women to suffer from the consequences of FGM.
5. Aladejare, Nigeria
“Others can join me by empowering the coming generation of mothers and fathers with knowledge, skill and the capacity to stand against FGM practice anywhere.”
Aladejare is the Founder and Executive Director of the New Generation Girls’ and Women Development Initiative in Nigeria, which works closely with The Girl Generation. Nigeria banned FGM in 2015 and it falls to people like Aladejare to make communities aware of the harmful impact FGM can have on girls’ lives.
She was inspired to get involved with the campaign because she herself was cut:
“Nobody talked about it to me, not even the one that cut me. When I challenged my mother, she apologized and said she did not cut my kid sister when she knew that it was harmful.”
Aladejare works with communities in Ekiti State where she uses her personal experience to make sure no one else has to go through what she did. She has taken part in radio and television discussions to discuss FGM and one particular success story shows her personal impact.
“I was able to convince my two neighbours, in spite of strong opposition from their mother-in-law, not to cut their girls. The two girls are now seven months old and six months old respectively, and their parents have no intention of having them cut.”
This shows the importance of not being afraid to challenge a tradition that goes back thousands of years. Once one family abandons the practice, they in turn can become advocates and help their whole community end FGM for good.
6. Harry, United Kingdom
“ I realised that men’s voices standing up against FGM were needed.”
In order to end FGM in a generation boys and men who aren’t afraid to talk about sensitive issues and tackle them head on need to speak up. Harry is just this sort of campaigner. He has seen how FGM has come out of the shadows, how it is no longer a subject that is ignored. He has seen how more boys and men are playing a vital role in the campaign to end FGM.
“I sat on an FGM panel where three out of the four panel members were guys, which I thought was great as it showed the growth of the movement.”
The ongoing campaign to end FGM proves that real change needs to involve young people. If you want to join the movement and make a difference to the lives of girls and women around the world visit:
We are working in 17 countries around the world to end FGM in a generation.
Find out more about how DFID are helping girls and women around the world.
