Every year 3.5 million girls are mutilated against their will in the genital area. This means that every seven seconds a little girl in this world is circumcised. Very often with brutal tools such as non-disinfected razor blades and broken glass. Female genital mutilation (FGM) has nothing to do with religion, culture or tradition. It is a crime. It is brutal. It is unacceptable.
FGM can cause serious physical and psychological problems for victims. This bloody practice has no right to exist in the 21st century. With our #endfgm signature campaign we demand that ...
Once we have achieved our target of 10 million signatures, we will hand them over to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the President of the European Union and the President of the African Union, calling for the fight against female genital mutilation to be given top priority at last.
To this day, thousands of young girls are genital mutilated every day by this terrible practice. FGM is one of the most brutal and worst forms of violence against children and women. The suffering must be stopped once and for all.
There are an estimated 200 million girls and women worldwide who have been circumcised. The number of unreported cases is probably much higher, since the bloody procedure is very often carried out in secret. The ritual is usually performed on girls before their 15th birthday. Without anaesthesia and with primitive cutting tools such as unclean razor blades, broken glass, knives and scissors. This cruel practice exposes the victims to extreme pain and usually persecutes them throughout their lives. It happens again and again that children even die from the consequences of FGM, for example because they bleed to death or get blood poisoning. One thing is certain: This terrible procedure is the most serious bodily injury! The girls are also brutally robbed of their right to integrity and self-determination over their own bodies.
In order to defeat FGM successfully, a radical rethink is necessary. This can only be achieved through targeted enlightenment. And this is exactly what Waris Dirie and the work of the Desert Flower Foundation, which she founded, have been standing for years.
As a symbol for our #endfgm campaign we have chosen the Protea flower. Why? In Africa it stands for change and hope. With this campaign we want to change something worldwide so that millions of girls and women can hope again. The cruel and inhuman procedure of female genital mutilation no longer has a place in our world. The best way to finally eliminate this brutal practice is to educate the people affected. It is important to strengthen the girls and women so that they can lead a more self-determined life. We have the chance to put an end to suffering by shaking everyone awake. With 10 million signatures, nobody can look the other way. No organization, no government, no politician and no media. With our signatures we defeat the ignorance which unfortunately still prevails worldwide against FGM. It is not my fight. It is our fight. With this signature campaign we have declared war on FGM!
