On Monday 26 September the Guardian held a live membership event to celebrate the work of some true unsung heroes in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation.
Jaha Dukureh, Domtila Chesang, Gift Augustine and Ifrah Ahmed brought the issue right to the heart of London, with a live discussion at the Curzon Bloomsbury.
.@IfrahFoundation speaks of the moment she decided to 'be the voice not the victim' and work to #endFGM #MediatoEndFGM pic.twitter.com/P4PyTh6w3W
— End FGM (@GdnEndFGM) September 26, 2016
Two of the women are child survivors of the practice, one ran away from home to make sure it wouldn’t happen to her and the fourth determined to change her society after holding a dying girl in her arms. Her crime? She had refused to have FGM.
“Be the voice not the victim of FGM,” Ahmed told the audience, while Chesang described how utilising the media, especially radio, to empower people on the ground has helped garner support.
With the backing of the Guardian’s Global Media Campaign to End FGM these four women have helped launch national campaigns, changed laws, pioneered a ban, engaged Ban Ki Moon, met Barack Obama, and made the Time 100 list.
If you wish to support these women’s projects directly, please follow the links below.
- Ifrah Ahmed: http://www.ifrahfoundation.org/donate
- Gift Augustine: https://www.gofundme.com/9a7vfyxq
- Jaha Dukureh: http://www.safehandsforgirls.org/what-we-do
- Domtila Chesang: http://www.beyondfgm.co.uk/donate/
