Category Archives: Female genital mutilation (FGM)

We will end female genital mutilation only by backing frontline activists

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From the Gambia to Kenya, FGM has been fought most successfully at grassroots level. The world must pay heed

I underwent female genital mutilation at the age of seven, while on holiday in Djibouti. When I returned to school in the UK my teacher told me that this happened to “girls like me”.

Thankfully, this type of reaction is no longer common, and this country is much better equipped to protect girls at risk. FGM is now seen as a global issue, which we know has affected more than 200 million women and girls around the world.

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FGM doctor arrested in Egypt after girl, 12, bleeds to death

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Child had been taken by her family to have the procedure, still prevalent in the country despite new laws to combat it

A doctor has been arrested after the death of a 12-year-old girl he had performed female genital mutilation (FGM) on.

Nada Hassan Abdel-Maqsoud bled to death at a private clinic in Manfalout, close to the city of Assiut, after her parents, uncle and aunt took her for the procedure.

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Asylum seeker locked out of home in London despite active claim

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Gambian woman, 46, has no access to possessions after being evicted without notice

An asylum seeker with an active case has been locked out of her Home Office accommodation in west London by a government contractor who told her: “When you’re asked to leave this country you have to leave.”

The woman, 46, who fled her country in west Africa after refusing to perform FGM on young girls, has an active asylum claim. She said her life will be at risk if she is forced to return to Gambia where FGM is prevalent because she defied her community by opposing the practice.

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How Ifrah Ahmed, the girl from Mogadishu, took her FGM story to the world

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As a Somali girl she underwent the horrific practice. Now a new film tells how she risked her life to end it

Ifrah Ahmed refuses to let the horrific female genital mutilation she suffered at the age of eight define her. “I don’t want to be a victim. I want to be a voice,” says the 32-year-old campaigner.

She is one of the first women to publicly speak out about female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somalia – a country where it is estimated that 98% of women have undergone the ritual – and now her journey from powerless victim to powerful role model has been dramatised in a film. A Girl from Mogadishu has just had its UK premiere at the Edinburgh film festival and will be released across the UK in cinemas later this year.

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Senior Islamic cleric issues fatwa against child marriage

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Deputy grand imam of al-Azhar calls for marriage based on mutual consent with minimum age set at 18

One of the world’s most prestigious centres of Islamic learning has issued a fatwa against child marriage, saying marriage should be based on the consent of both parties and “particularly the young woman”.

The deputy grand imam of al-Azhar, considered by some Muslims to be the highest authority of Islamic jurisprudence, hammered out the document with his team and young activists at the first African summit on child marriage and female genital mutilation, which took place in Senegal this week.

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Children to be taught dangers of female genital mutilation

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Sex education shake-up in secondary schools means learning about grooming, forced marriage and domestic abuse

The dangers of female genital mutilation will be taught to all secondary school pupils in England from 2020 as part of a bold shake-up of relationships and sex education.

New proposals will be presented to parliament on Monday which would see the curriculum reformed to include relationship education for primary age pupils and health education for pupils of all ages in state-funded schools. Secondary school pupils will also be taught about grooming, forced marriage and domestic abuse.

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‘We can’t end FGM without talking to men’ – in pictures

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More than 200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation and about 3 million more are at risk every year. Africa has the highest numbers, but its young people are fighting back

Photographs by the Girl Generation

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Queensland girls subjected to female genital mutilation in Somalia, court told

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Mother is on trial in Brisbane after girls were allegedly taken from grandmother’s house and subjected to procedure

Two Queensland girls were playing outside their grandmother’s house in Somalia when they were allegedly taken away to have their genitals mutilated, a court has heard.

Their mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is on trial in Brisbane district court.

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Police arrest 19 people over FGM gang attacks on women in Uganda

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Critics say police should have acted earlier on reports of forceful mutilation of more than 400 women in a month by armed groups

Sixteen men and three women have been arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting female genital mutilation (FGM) in eastern Uganda after reports of gangs attacking women in the region.

The suspects were taken into custody earlier this week after joint police and military operations in Kween district. The arrests followed local media reports of more than 400 women, some as young as 12, being mutilated by force by local gangs in the past month.

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Schoolgirls in Kenya to face compulsory tests for pregnancy and FGM

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Girls in Narok County will be made to reveal identities of babies’ fathers and tell police about female genital mutilation

Plans to subject schoolgirls in Kenya to mandatory tests for female genital mutilation and pregnancy are a violation of victims’ privacy, campaigners have warned.

All girls returning to school this week in Narok, Kenya, will be examined at local health facilities as part of a countywide crackdown.

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