Millions of women and girls in Somalia continue to suffer from the harmful tradition of female genital mutilation despite global efforts to stop it.
According to the World Health Organization, female genital mutilation affects 87% of Sudanese females between the ages of 15 and 49, one of the highest rates in the world. The UNICEF initiative is aimed at sports clubs to involve men and boys in the struggle against the practise.
Ifrah Ahmed was smuggled to Ireland, where she applied for asylum. She is now a high-profile supporter of the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and a global advocate against female genital mutilation
Women’s rights groups in Mali are suing the government for not doing enough to protect girls from circumcision, known as Female Genital Mutilation (OR FGM)
The case of a one-and-a-half-year-old baby victim of female genital mutilation (FGM), who was on trial in the Sintra Court, ended this January with the sentencing of the Guinean mother to three years in prison and the compensation paymant of ten thousand euros, in Portugal
In Tanzania, female circumcision – also known as female genital mutilation – is still practiced among some ethnic groups as a rite of passage into womanhood. Many girls are forced or coerced into it
Despite Kenya banning FGM – female genital mutilation – in 2011, the tradition has continued in some ethnic communities. President Uhuru Kenyatta vowed to end FGM before 2023, seven years ahead of a United Nations deadline to stop the practice globally. Activists, however, say more needs to be done as millions of girls are still at risk of undergoing the cut
Female genital mutilation is widely recognized as a violation on human right, which is deeply rooted in cultural beliefs and perceptions with no easy task for change