The challenge
Harmful practices involve a violation of international human rights law, as the right to culture and freedom of religion cannot limit the fundamental right to equality and non-discrimination. Despite the UN calling for the worldwide elimination of all harmful practices by 2030, many countries still do not have adequate laws and policies in place to protect women and girls.
Jenny – US
FGM/C is widely known to take place amongst diaspora communities in the United States. Less known are the stories of FGM/C oc…
Women’s Rights & Climate Change: Laila Amili – Morocco
At the United Nations 2022 Climate Change Conference in Egypt, there are mounting calls for women to be guaranteed a principa…
Our response
We lead global campaigns against harmful practices, pushing for states to enact and implement effective laws and to be held accountable to their international obligations.
Collaborating with our network of regional partners, we strengthen grassroots efforts by amplifying the voices of local activists to leaders, policymakers, and citizens everywhere.
Explore our work to end harmful practices
The Global Movement to End FGM
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is internationally recognized as a gross violation of human rights, a form of violence agains...
Ending Female Genital Mutilation in Africa
FGM is prevalent in 28 countries in Africa. Dedicated activism has resulted in the decline of this harmful practice over the ...
Amplifying the Voices of Survivors of Child Marriage in Georgia
Though many in Georgia may consider child marriage to be a thing of the past, a 2018 UNICEF report found that among women in ...
Our impact
We change and defend laws
We use strategic litigation to hold governments around the world accountable for their obligations to fully protect women and girls against female genital mutilation (FGM).
In 2021, we helped successfully defend anti-FGM law in Kenya following a High Court challenge to the constitutionality of the Prohibition of the Female Genital Mutilation Act, 2011. This case alone will secure protection for hundreds of thousands of women and girls.
We promote collaboration
We champion a collaborative approach to ending all harmful practices, convening and supporting key state and non-state actors while also strengthening grassroots efforts.
In 2022, we published a landmark report on the success to date of the multi-sectoral approach against FGM in Africa, to encourage best practice and facilitate its adoption by others. We have supported 23 African countries to adopt a multi-sectoral approach to FGM.
We make evident the global reality of FGM
We ensure the voices and stories of survivors everywhere are heard and acted upon by leaders, policy makers, the UN, law enforcement officials and the general public.
In 2020, we published a report showing FGM being practiced 92 countries, highlighting cases in countries such US, Iran and Singapore where the issue is little known or ignored. This has contributed to a shift in approach towards addressing FGM as a global issue with the report being cited by the UN Secretary General and in UN strategies to end FGM.
Our impact in focus: Changing minds and changing laws in Sierra Leone
Female genital mutilation is a significant problem in Sierra Leone, where 83% of women and girls aged 15 to 49 have been subjected to the practice. In February 2022, following the tragic death of 21-year-old Maseray Sei as a result of FGM, we mobilized our global network in calling for the Sierra Leone government to criminalize this harmful practice.
Along with the Forum for Harmful Practices (FAHP), we drafted and delivered to the Sierra Leone Parliament an open letter, signed by over 130 organizations from 34 countries, calling for the government to ban FGM, to put in place adequate measures to protect against and eliminate FGM, and to give survivors and the families of victims a means to access justice. In response, the Speaker of Parliament issued a ground-breaking public statement on FGM, acknowledging that “the time has come for our country to evaluate its cultural practices.”
We then undertook a high-profile advocacy mission to Sierra Leone, meeting with key state agencies and government stakeholders to encourage them to take action to end FGM and securing widespread media coverage about the issue, prompting national discussion. Our advocacy contributed to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Violence against Women, Extrajudicial Executions and Health issuing a communication calling for Sierra Leone to pass stronger measures to prevent and address FGM.
We are now working with our partners in Sierra Leone to support the amendment of the Child Rights Act to prohibit FGM for girls aged under 18. Meanwhile, we continue to seek justice for Maseray Sei, supporting our local partner, WAVES SL, in bringing one of the country’s few FGM-related prosecutions in history against the cutter involved in her death.
“It can be difficult to advocate for progressive legal reform in places where traditions are so deeply entrenched – it is thanks to the commitment of our partners and the support of every person who signed our open letter that we have got to this stage. We will continue to reach out to the government of Sierra Leone to advocate for a law prohibiting FGM to be put in place.”
Divya Srinivasan, Equality Now Global Lead, End Harmful Practices
News and resources
Read the latest news and insights
Colombia prohibits child marriage without exceptions following tireless advocacy efforts
November 14, 2024
Colombia has become the latest country to prohibit child marriage without exceptions, after the Senate passed the legislation...
Reflections on the First Global Ministerial Conference on Violence Against Children (VAC)
November 14, 2024
Leer en español Just days after the First Global Ministerial Conference on Violence Against Children, it’s essential to ta...
10 Things About FGM/C in South Asia – Voices from Communities
November 8, 2024
FGM/C continues to affect 80 million women and girls across Asia, including women and girls in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and...
Browse our key resources
Breaking Barriers: Addressing Child, Early and Forced Marriage in Eurasia
10 October 2024
This report examines child, early, and forced marriages (CEFM) in seven Eurasian countries—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ky...
Ending Child, Early And Forced Marriages And Unions In Argentina: Legal And Policy Frameworks
09 October 2024
This report, developed by Equality Now in collaboration with CLADEM, examines the legal and policy frameworks surrounding chi...
Ending Child, Early and Forced Marriages and Unions in Colombia
28 August 2024
This Policy Brief advocates for essential reforms to combat child, early, and forced marriage and unions (CEFMU) in Colombia....
Ending Child Marriage in Eastern and Southern Africa: Challenges in Implementing Domestic Laws and the SADC Model Law on Child Marriage
22 August 2023
The Eastern and Southern African region has some of the highest rates of child marriage in the world, with an estimated 31% o...
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Call For A Global Response
17 March 2020
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is internationally recognized as a gross violation of human rights, a form of viole...
Courage: Survivors of child marriage in Georgia share their stories
07 December 2020
This publication tells the stories of seven women, victims of violence, who were forced to marry as children. Some were able ...
Reporting on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) – Global Edition
27 September 2022
This toolkit is for media professionals. It provides guidelines on how to report on female genital mutilation (FGM) in a gend...
Use of the Multi-Sectoral Approach to Ending Gender-Based Violence and Female Genital Mutilation in Africa
23 March 2022
Gender-based violence (GBV) often referred to as “violence against women” is considered as any harmful act that is perpet...
Reporting on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) - US Factsheet
09 April 2024
This factsheet is a quick guide for communications and media professionals who are looking to cover female genital mutilation...
I need the ERA because...a girl is not a wife - Child marriage
26 August 2022
It is estimated by Unchained at Last that about 300,000 children were married in the United States between 2000 and 2018, the...
Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Canada
27 April 2023
FGM/C is a traditional harmful practice that involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other inju...
I need the ERA because... I have the right to bodily integrity - FGM
26 August 2022
Despite the prevalence of the practice in the USA and the persisting risk to many women and girls, 20% of American states do ...
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Voices and stories
Learn from the people we work with
Masooma - India
Masooma Ranalvi is the founder of WeSpeakOut, an organization working to end FGM/C in India. My mutilation happened when I wa...
Ngalali - Tanzania
When Ngalali, a member of the Massai people in Tanzania, was 13, she made a decision that saved her life. Thanks to the enfor...
Habiba - Oman
Habiba al Hinai is an Omani women’s rights activist, and Founder and Executive Director of the Omani Associa...
What you can do
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