Dear JOhn,

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is present on every continent except Antarctica, and it happens across cultures and religions. In our new report Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Call for a Global Response, produced in partnership with the End FGM European Network and the US End FGM/C Network, and released today, we highlight that there are at least 92 countries across the globe where there are women and girls living with FGM/C or who are at risk of having FGM/C performed on them.

The global response, however, has been inconsistent: only 51 of these 92 countries specifically address FGM/C within their national legal framework. Asia and the Middle East are regions that particularly lag behind the rest of the world in enacting legal prohibitions against FGM/C. 

Importantly, the report also features the voices of survivors of FGM/C from across the world, from many countries and religious traditions. 

Jenny grew up in mid-West America in a conservative, Christian home. She was five when she underwent Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): 

There is such a silence that surrounds this practice, that until we are talking about it more, we are really never going to know the amount of girls in the US that have been affected. We have to remove the shame, make it a subject safe to talk about.

This is not a color, culture, religion, region or anything else kind of issue, it is a human issue, period.

The report is a clarion call from survivors of FGM/C across cultures, communities, and countries to recognize FGM/C as a global issue, requiring urgent global attention.

What can you do?

➡️ Share this report and help us spread the word: FGM/C is global, and so is the movement to end it!

In solidarity,

Flavia Mwangovya
Global Lead, End Harmful Practices