Being a girl is not fun for these women, but they smile through everything. FGM Awareness Day

• More than 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, where FGM is practiced.
• FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.
• FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
• Treatment of the health complications of FGM is estimated to cost health systems US$1.4 billion per year, a number expected to rise unless urgent action is taken towards its abandonment.

Immediate complications of FGM can include:

• Severe pain.
• Excessive bleeding (haemorrhage).
• Genital tissue swelling.
• Fever.
• Infections, e.g., tetanus.
• Urinary problems.
• Wound healing problems.
• Injury to the surrounding genital tissue.
• Shock.
• Death.

Victoria Byatt

“It’s so sad, and unfortunately sometimes happens in our country too.”

Senewa Veronica

“Really? I thought it was only in Africa.

I am proud being part of this courageous team that decided to come out and say BIG NO TO FGM, as a team we are standing firm to reach our goal thats ZERO FGM in my community its a big challenge but collectively we can achieve big, we need to find an alternative right of initiation passage as we watched from that great movie its of great help and importance.”