Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is a harmful practice that affects up to 140 million women globally. We believe girls have the right to have control over their own bodies so we’re supporting efforts to reduce the practice by 30% in at least 20 countries over the next years. Ultimately we want to end the practice within a generation.
Three years ago, recognising widespread human rights discrimination and violence against girls, the United Nations (UN) made a promise to observe the International Day of the Girl Child on 11 October, and the theme this year is the power of …
Last Saturday, I joined the Tanzanian Youth Summit, one of several such events happening across the world, that will culminate in London in a few days (check out the #YouthSummit site). It was a room full of young Tanzanians who …
On Saturday I was invited to speak to 40 girls from Samburu, a remote part of Kenya which forms one of the arid and semi- arid lands of the country. So I jumped at the chance. Kenyan girls are always …
The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Sierra Leone is shrouded in great secrecy and mysticism. It usually takes the form of removal of the clitoris, sometimes using razor blades, penknives and even broken glass. It is at the …
Last week was my first visit to the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), an annual event that has been held at the UN since 1946. Over 100 ministers and 8000 civil society advocates attended, with events ranging from …
I had a moment of dizzying clarity during a visit to The Gambia last month, when policy lines revisited in briefings, meetings and documents burst back into life, regained their power and gave a renewed sense of purpose to my …
We often associate FGM with the harmful physical effects suffered by more than 125 million women worldwide. There is much less awareness about the psychological effects that can haunt a woman throughout her lifetime. I know from experience that sometimes …
“I feel more and more that I am no longer alone and that the entire world is supporting me.” – Mah Cissé A year ago, 14 communities in Bamako, Mali, declared an end to Female Genital Cutting (FGC). Mah Cissé, …
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a human rights abuse. The practice seriously damages the physical and mental health of women and girls around the world, and can even cause death. When I began my African Well Woman’s Clinic at Guy’s …
Small faces may look up at me equally quizzically as I visit a maternity hospital in Sudan. But from these first moments, the path for a girl is mapped out differently from that for a boy. And that has included the …
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