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Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a harmful traditional practice involving the cutting or removal of the external female genitals. It has existed for more than 2,000 years and is performed on girls from birth, up to just before marriage, and sometimes beyond. FGM is also known as "female circumcision" or "cutting", and by other terms locally.
Type I: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and/or the prepucerisque.
Type II: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without excision of the labia majora.
Type III: Narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and appositioning the labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without excision of the clitoris.
Type IV: All other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical purposes, for example: pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterisation.
Our vision is a world where every girl and woman is safe, healthy and lives free from female genital mutilation. We are a registered charity, established in 2010 by Dr Ann-Marie Wilson to undertake research and provide knowledge and tools to those working to end FGM in the countries in Africa where it is practised and across the diaspora worldwide.
Early Marriages and FGM Accelerating Maternal Death in Mandera County, Kenya.
Guest Blog by Abdullahi Mohamed Abdinur, Health and Hunger Aid. Health and Hunger Aid (HhAid) is a non-governmental organization, free from political, clans, religion and ethnic divisions, works with thousands of youth in urban and rural areas throughout Northern Kenya. HhAid strives to create a future where communities are able to facilitate their own development. HhAid works in program areas of Sexual and Reproductive and right, Food security, Water and Sanitation as well as HIV/AIDS awareness/mitigation.
Do Alternative Rites of Passage (ARP) approaches work?
Guest Blog by Sam Cook, Feed the Minds. Alternative Rite of Passage (ARP) approaches – that use an alternative ritual to FGM to symbolise a girl’s transition to womanhood – sound great on the surface. But are they an effective strategy for abandonment of FGM that can be applied in other communities? And who else needs to be involved to ensure long term change?
An alternative to FGM at naming ceremonies in Igbo Land
Guest Blog by the Society for the Improvement of Rural People (SIRP). In Igbo land, FGM is usually carried out to coincide with the child’s naming ceremony, which is a festive event with gifts and refreshments. In Igbo culture, the naming ceremony comes up almost immediately after the birth of the child. It is normally done on the 7th to the 12th day after the birth of the child. When a child is born in Igbo land, he or she is welcomed into the world with joyous songs.
Guest Blog by the Pastoralist Child Foundation. Since 2013, Pastoralist Child Foundation’s (PCF) Alternative Rites of Passage (ARP) have been instrumental in lowering the rate of FGM in Samburu, Kenya. We have managed to decrease the former rate of 96% in East Samburu Ward down to 80%. Our replacement for “the cut” is through education and celebrations for groups of 60 girls during their school holidays in April, August, and December.
The Story of ARP in Najile, Kajiado West Sub County
Guest Blog by Millicent Ondigo for Amref Health Africa. It began one and a half years ago with the birth of the ‘Yes I Do Alliance-Kenya Programme’. The Yes I Do Alliance had one purpose of contributing to the reduction of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), child marriage and teenage pregnancies among the Maa community residing in Kajiado West Sub County of Kajiado in Kenya.
Maasai Moran tour to break silence around FGC: SAFE Maa case study
Guest Blog by Miranda Dobson, Orchid Project.
SAFE Maa is a Kenyan-based NGO and UK charity working with the Maasai in the Loita Hills, South West Kenya, on ending female genital cutting (FGC), environmental sustainability, and addressing HIV and AIDS. They have been delivering programmes since 2008, and are dedicated to changing the attitudes surrounding FGC in Loita as a way to help create community-led change. Orchid Project partnered with SAFE Maa in 2013 to support an awareness-raising performance tour on FGC and have continued to work closely with them ever since.
You can support our research and other projects to end this harmful practice by making a donation online with PayPal or JustGiving. If you would prefer to make a regular contribution, download our standing order form.
