This Sunday, February 6 is the UN Sanctioned International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation.  

On February 6, 2003, Stella Obasanjo, the First Lady of Nigeria, officially declared “Zero Tolerance to FGM” in African during a conference organized by the InterAfrican Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children.

The UN Subcommission on Human Rights adopted this day as an international awareness day to make the world aware of the issue of female genital cutting and to “promote its eradication.”   

The World Health Organization estimates that “100 to 140 million girls and women worldwide are currently living with the consequences of FGM.” Girls who are cut face the risk of “severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later, potential childbirth complications and newborn deaths.”

But in recent years, an increasing number of affected communities and families are taking action and calling for change.  Here’s a painful, informative, inspiring story about one woman who’s choosing to carve out a new path…from last year’s Vanguard series:

I promise to write more extensively on FGM/C in the future, and will build on the resource links to organizations/individuals who are working to address female genital mutilation/cutting…