Forced to leave school and marry at 17, Mercy (pictured above) was ostracised by her in-laws for not undergoing FGM...
She fled to her father’s house — butthenhe started pushing for her to be cut too.
When everyone in your life says you need FGM, it’s hard to know what to do. But Mercy got involved with a local women’s rights group that helped build her confidence to resist. And today she’s part of the movement to end FGM.
The funds will help tear down the beliefs that underpin FGM. It can be done. As Mercy says,“My father was pushing me to get circumcised, but now he supports my decision…I used to go back home and explain everything I was learning in the training and slowly he changed his mind about FGM too.”
That’s why organising in communities is so powerful. When Mercy was younger, she thought it was inevitable she would undergo FGM. But now, Mercy acts in dramas against FGM and early marriage to educate her community.
NAWOU are gearing up for a new wave of local campaigning against FGM. But they need these vital funds to pay for community leader training,school bursaries for girls, and all the small things like phone credit and travel costs.
