Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva. The practice is found in some countries of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and within their respective diasporas. As of 2023, UNICEF estimates that "at least 200 million girls... in 31 countries"—including Indonesia, Iraq, Yemen, and 27 African countries including Egypt—had been subjected to one or more types of FGM.
Efua Dorkenoo, OBE, affectionately known as "Mama Efua", was a Ghanaian-British campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM) who pioneered the global movement to end the practice and worked internationally for more than 30 years to see the campaign "move from a problem lacking in recognition to a key issue for governments around the world."
Kurdish women have traditionally played important roles in Kurdish society and politics. In general, Kurdish women's rights and equality have improved dramatically in the 21st century due to progressive movements within Kurdish society. However, despite the progress, Kurdish and international women's rights organizations still report problems related to gender inequality, forced marriages, honor killings, and in Iraqi Kurdistan, female genital mutilation (FGM).
International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is a United Nations-sponsored annual awareness day that takes place on February 6 as part of the UN's efforts to eradicate female genital mutilation. It was first introduced in 2003.
The status of women in Iraq at the beginning of the 21st century is affected by many factors: wars, sectarian religious debates concerning Islamic law and Iraq's Constitution, cultural traditions, and modern secularism. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi women are widowed as a result of a series of wars and internal conflicts. Women's rights organizations struggle against harassment and intimidation, while they work to promote improvements to women's status in the law, in education, the workplace, and many other spheres of Iraqi life, and to curtail abusive practices such as honor killings and forced marriages.
Comfort Iyabo Amah Momoh, is a British midwife who specializes in the treatment of female genital mutilation (FGM). Born in Nigeria, Momoh is a member of the British FGM national clinical group, established in 2007 to train health professionals in how to deal with the practice. Until 2017 she served as a public-health specialist at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust in London. She is the editor of Female Genital Mutilation (2005).
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting (FGC), female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is practiced in 30 countries in western, eastern, and north-eastern Africa, in parts of the Middle East and Asia, and within some immigrant communities in Europe, North America and Australia. The WHO defines the practice as "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."
Ifrah Ahmed is a Somali-Irish social activist. She is the founder of the United Youth of Ireland non-governmental organization and the Ifrah Foundation.
Nimko Ali, alternatively spelled Nimco, is a British social activist of Somali heritage. She is the co-founder and CEO of The Five Foundation, a global partnership to end female genital mutilation (FGM).
Leyla Hussein is a Somali-born British psychotherapist and social activist. She is the founder of Dahlia project, one of the co-founders of the Daughters of Eve non-profit organization and a Chief Executive of Hawa's Haven. In 2020, Hussein was elected Rector of the University of St Andrews, making her the third woman and first woman of colour to hold this position. Her 3-year term in the position has been labelled as 'chronically absent' and 'disappointing'.
Female genital mutilation in the United Kingdom is the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia of women and girls living in the UK. According to Equality Now and City University London, an estimated 103,000 women and girls aged 15–49 were thought to be living with female genital mutilation (FGM) in England and Wales as of 2011.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision or female genital cutting, includes any procedure involving the removal or injury of part or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. While the practice is most common in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, FGM is also widespread in immigrant communities and metropolitan areas in the United States, and was performed by doctors regularly until the 1980s.
Nigeria has the highest rate of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the world in total numbers. It is usually experienced by girls aged 0 to 15 years old. It involves either partial or complete removal of the vulva or other injury to the female genital organs and has no medical benefit.
Jaha Dukureh is a Gambian women's right activist and anti-female genital mutilation campaigner. Dukureh was subjected to female genital mutilation in The Gambia when she was a little more than a week old. She is the founder and executive director of Safe Hands for Girls, an organization working to end FGM, and was the lead campaigner in The Guardian's End FGM Guardian Global Media Campaign. In April 2016, she was named to the 2016 Time 100 list. Dukureh was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in February 2018, has won the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, and is a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador for Africa. A feature film about Jaha's life was released by Accidental Pictures and The Guardian.
Dr. Christine Marie-Helene Loudes was a human rights lawyer who worked to achieve social change for justice and equality. She was a noted human rights activist who dedicated much of her academic and professional life to campaigning for gender equality and advocating for women's rights. She was honoured for her work to end female genital mutilation (FGM) and headed Amnesty International's End FGM campaign that led to the establishment of the End FGM European Network. During her career, Dr Loudes worked with ILGA-Europe, the European Institute for Gender Equality and the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a cultural practice that occurs in several cultures and is practised in India by the Shia Bohra groups. The Dawoodi Bohra is one sect of Islam in India known for their practice of FGM, with other Bohra sects reported as partaking in practices of FGM as well. The procedure frequently occurs at the age of seven and involves "all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs.". The process is typically performed by a traditional practitioner using a knife or a blade and can range from Type I to Type IV. The consequences of FGM take on a wide range and can span from discomfort to sepsis and have also been correlated with psychological consequences, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Khadija Gbla is an Australian feminist and human rights activist She works as a cultural consultant, a keynote speaker and an anti- female genital mutilation (FGM) campaigner, based in South Australia. She founded the advocacy organisation No FGM Australia, which works to stamp out the practice.
Naana Otoo-Oyortey is a Ghanaian social activist, the executive director of the Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development.
Ubah Ali is a social activist and feminist from Somaliland, who campaigns against female genital mutilation. In 2020, she was listed by the BBC as one of the world's most influential 100 Women.
Domtila Chesang is a Kenyan women’s rights activist known for her campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM). She is the founder and director of I_Rep Foundation, which is established to address various forms of violence against girls and women.
