Today is the International Day of Zero Tolerance for female genital mutilation (FGM), a deadly practice involving cutting women and girls’ external genitalia with a knife or razor.

The horrors of FGM cannot be overstated, yet it remains a common practice in communities around the world. Like in Yemen, where trauma resulting from FGM compounds tragedies already facing Yemeni women.

Two months before her delivery, Safia was informed of the practice of FGM by her mother-in-law.

“As a pregnant woman, I had no idea about the harm female genital mutilation can have for girls. My mother-in-law kept insisting that it would allow my child to lead a moral life,” Safia told UNFPA.

Three days after Safia gave birth, her mother-in-law came home with tools to perform the procedure. Safia’s baby screamed in pain and bled profusely. She began to lose choke and eventually died.

“She took my three-day-old baby to her arms and carried out the procedure. It was the most unbearable sight, as my baby was being cut with a sharp blade,” adds Safia. “I lost my baby in front of my eyes.”

Safia went into a deep state of depression as sadness and regret kept recurring in her mind. When she fell pregnant again with a girl, she began to fear the fate awaiting her unborn child.

Safia sought advice from a neighbor who had given birth to a girls and escaped female genital mutilation being imposed by the in-laws. She was advised to visit the UNFPA-supported youth friendly safe space.

Safia, her husband, and her mother-in-law met with a case worker at the UNFPA safe space. “The three of us listened for over three hours about the physical, mental, and social effects associated with female-genital mutilation. We became aware of how harmful this practice is and were fully convinced that it should not be practiced and everyone in my village should be informed as well.”

Safia’s second daughter avoided the same fate as her first thanks to that discussion.

When you make a humanitarian gift, you’re delivering case workers and supporting safe spaces to help keep girls like Safia’s daughter safe from the deadly consequences of FGM.

Will you make a gift today to help keep women and girls safe from dangerous practices like FGM? Together, we can help ensure that the 200 million FGM survivors alive today are the LAST generation of women and girls to be mutilated.

Thank you for your support,

USA for UNFPA