#InternationalDayofZeroToleranceforFemaleGenitalMutilation: Stop FGM

#InternationalDayofZeroToleranceforFemaleGenitalMutilation 👩🏻🚫 200 million girls and women in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. This glaring number represents those who are affected by female genital mutilation or FGM.

🩸Defined as “all procedures that involve altering or injuring the female genitalia for non-medical reasons,” FGM is rooted in systemic gender inequality and rampant sexism. A number of reasons underpins its widespread practice: a necessary rite of passage into adulthood, religious beliefs, misconceptions about hygiene, or a way to promote premarital virginity. In some communities, girls who have not undergone FGM may be stigmatized and labeled unhealthy, unclean or unworthy.

🚨🏥 But why is it a priority to eradicate FGM? This procedure is reported to be harmful to females’ genital organs and can leave detrimental, long-lasting effects on their reproductive health. Infections or severe bleeding may even lead to death. Mostly, it is young girls between infancy and age 15 who are forced to endure the procedure against their will.

📣 FGM has been universally recognized as a form of violence against women and a violation of their rights to health and to be free from torture, among others. If we don’t do something to put an end to it, as many as 15 million more girls will be subjected to this appalling, misogynistic custom by 2030, according to UN’s estimates.

#WeAreManushyan ♾️ Equal Human Beings

✊ Manushya Foundation denounces all forms of gender-based violence and calls on the governments involved to prioritize the health of women and girls suffering from FGM. As a Women-led Intersectional Feminist Organization from the Global South, we work towards ensuring that women and girls, especially from marginalized communities, can enjoy life freely and equally.

👉🏻 YOU too can help by raising awareness about the issue, echoing its harms, and standing up to violence against women.

References:

• WHO, Female genital mutilation, (31 January 2023), available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/female-genital-mutilation#:~:text=More%20than%20200%20million%20girls,rights%20of%20girls%20and%20women

• BBC, What is FGM, where does it happen and why?, (6 February 2019), available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-47131052

• UN, International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, 6 February, available at: https://www.un.org/en/observances/female-genital-mutilation-day

#EndFGM #FemaleGentialMutilation #FGM #ViolenceAgainstWomen #RightToHealth #Virginity #WomenEmpowerment #HumanRights #Equality #Sexism #GenderEquality #StopFGM #MenEndFGM #MumDontCutMe