Chief Amadu Sesay from Sierra Leone publicly stated his daughter would not be cut. His decision caused a ripple effect and many fathers in his village followed his lead.

A lot of people have to come together to improve girls’ rights.  Governments, businesses, organizations, and of course, girls themselves.

But sometimes, the biggest changes for girls come when their fathers stand up for them.

A dad stands up

Sekou Soya, from Guinea, has 9 daughters! He took a bold step for girls’ rights in his community: he wouldn’t let his daughters go through the process of female genital cutting. At first, the people in his village rejected him and his family, banning them from using the communal well. But, now the whole village has rejected cutting and have reconnected with Soya’s family.

Zero tolerance

Female genital cutting is when a girl or woman’s external genitals are partially or totally removed. The procedure isn’t done for medical reasons; it is often performed as an initiation rite when girls go through puberty.

An estimated 100 million to 140 million girls worldwide have undergone female genital cutting and it is one of the major causes of sickness and death among girls and young women in the areas where it’s practiced.

Female genital cutting can cause both physical and mental harm. Problems with menstruation, intercourse, and childbirth, severe pain, hemorrhage, tetanus, infection, infertility, cysts and abscesses, urinary incontinence are all possible side-effects of cutting. When a girl is cut by people she loves, the emotional impact can be harsh and lifelong.

Last week, on February 6, the world recognized the annual International Day for Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation.

Trading blades for books

Despite the devastation of female genital cutting, there is good news. Communities like Sekou’s in Guinea and Chief Amadu’s in Sierra Leone are paving the way for a world where female genital cutting is no longer tolerated and blades are traded for books.

Because female genital cutting is a deeply traditional part of many local cultures and usually not discussed openly, changing attitudes is a long, slow process requiring great sensitivity and patience.

Plan works closely with local partners to change attitudes and long-held beliefs about cutting through education. We:

• Hold information sessions for community members, including youth and parents
• Train local midwives as counsellors, and they become valued partners in carrying the message throughout the community
• Provide training and information for health personnel, social workers and teachers
• Conduct public awareness campaigns through radio and brochures
• Lobby leaders at all levels to adopt policies to eradicate the practice.

Slow change leads to girls’ empowerment

Supporting girls’ rights isn’t as easy as just changing rules. You have to change perceptions about what it means to be a girl. For this reason, Plan doesn’t just focus on one issue in the communities we work. Instead, we dive in deep to start at the roots with girls’ empowerment.

Change happens slowly but when girls are empowered, female genital cutting, along with other girls’ issues like early marriage or dropping out of school, comes to an end. It helps to have your Dad stand up for your rights.

Showing visitors around your home town may seem tedious, but for Hellen Nduta – GAdventures‘ only female tour leader in Africa – it’s a way to make sure visitors to Kenya see the country from a local’s point of view. When Hellen saw a sign supporting girls’ education, she snapped the winning photo in a GAdventures contest. I caught up with her over email to find out the story behind the picture.

KJ: What does “Don’t exchange girls for cows give them an education” mean?

It means we should stop taking dowry for young girls (marrying them early) and instead take them to school.

KJ: Who are the two women in the picture?

The lady is Hellen NKuraiya. She’s a teacher, and the founder and director of Enkiteng Lepa Community Based Organization in Majimoto, at the edge of Loita Plains near Narok, Kenya. She is working to end female genital mutilation, early marriages and life long subservience of women that are strong traditional elements of her Maasai culture. The small girl is my daughter Rotianae who is Maasai.

KJ: Where did you take it?

It was taken outside the Enkiteng Lepa school that was launched in 2008 by the Enkiteng Lepa Community Based Organization. It’s a school where girls attend without security concerns and boys who are critical, to change outdated customs. You can check it out at www.enkitenglepa.org.

KJ: What’s it like being the only female GAdventures tour leader in Africa?

It’s very challenging but after being in the field for 8 years, lots of the men in the industry have learned to let me in.

KJ: Where do you take people who come on your tours and what do you show them?

I take them all over Kenya. Apart from showing them animals, I take them to visit local villages and learn about their ways of life and the challenges they go through.

“The feeling was indescribable. I didn’t move, telling myself the more I did, the longer the torture would take. Unfortunately, my legs began to quiver and shake uncontrollably of their own accord, and I prayed, Please, God, let it be over quickly. Soon it was, because I passed out. Lying there alone with my legs still tied, I could do nothing but wonder, why? What was it all for? At that age I didn’t understand anything about sex. All I knew was that I had been butchered with my mother’s permission. I suffered as a result of my circumcision, but I was lucky. Many girls die from bleeding to death, shock, infection or tetanus. Considering the conditions in which the procedure is performed, it’s surprising that any of us survive.” Waris Darie

The Facts:

• Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), or female genital cutting, refers to a number of practices which involve cutting away part or all of a girl’s external genitalia.
• Mutilated/cut infants, girls and women face irreversible lifelong health risks
• Approximately 100 to 140 million girls and women living today have been subjected to FGM/C in Africa and Yemen.
• This act is carried out for religious reasons, perceived health, sociological and sexual reasons. FGM creates irreparable damage and has no known benefits to girls.
• The side effects of FGM are frequently infection that can lead to death, infertility, decreased sexual pleasure, intense pain, intense trauma and many other physical and psychological damages.
• For More Information: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/index.html or http://www.unfpa.org/endingviolence/home.html

Not only is the procedure painful and traumatic, the practice of FGM takes place in areas that don’t necessarily have access to the best medical facilities if any at all. In a violent twist this already abusive procedure is sometimes carried out with any sharp object that can be found from a knife to a rusty tin can and just about anything in between. Abuse against girls doesn’t get much worse than FGM, especially when it is considered by many religions and societies to be a rite of passage from girl to woman.

Is the practice going to be afflicting girls forever? The more education given to people about the dangerous health implications and the traumatic side effects of this unnecessary procedure hopefully will make FGM stop. There is some good news: countries like Ethiopia, Uganda, Senegal and Burkina Faso are working hard to end FGM in their countries.  But, there is still a lot to do and the international community – and individuals like you – need to continue to put pressure on countries where FGM is common to ban the practice.