Feminine Pains
Today is International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation.
According to the United Nations:
*Globally, it is estimated that between 100 million to 140 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of FGM.
*If current trends continue, 15 million additional girls between ages 15 and 19 be subjected to it by 2030.
*FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15.
*FGM cause severe bleeding and health issues including cysts, infections, infertility as well as complications in childbirth increased risk of newborn deaths.
*FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
Despite efforts to eradicate the practice in the UK, thousands of girls are at risk of FGM. According to research carried out by youth group Youth For Change an estimated 23,000 girls under 15 are still at risk, most aged between 5 -8. Some 94% of young people in their survey felt that school staff did not know enough about FGM and associated forced child marriage, with 72% of school staff saying that lack of training in these areas was a problem. Altogether, 81% of those surveyed think that Nicky Morgan, UK Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, should review the training available to school staff on the issue.
For more information visit:
Because I Am A Girl
International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation
I had no idea this day just passed. Thanks so much for educating us. What do we do to stop it? More advocacy? Where? Is there anything we can do to help the girls and women that have had this happen to them?
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Hi Cheyanne. I think publicising FGM is the best thing we can do, as laypeople. For so long, this barbarism was largely unknown to most of us, so raising awareness of it seems like a good place to start. Things are slowly changing, thanks to advocacy groups, including the UN, so anything we can do to keep that momentum going is a plus. This is why Laura and I have an ongoing theme here, called Less Than Human, to raise awareness of some of the ways in which women worldwide are treated as second class citizens. It’s not much, but it’s a start. If Malala managed to change the world by picking up a pen, just think of the progress we can make as a global unit 😀
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FGM is bizarre, horrendous and infuriating.
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It defies belief!
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