Marked each year on 6 February, the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is a global call to end this harmful practice and accelerate progress towards its eradication.
In 2026, the theme ‘Towards 2030: No End to FGM Without Sustained Commitment and Investment’ reflects an urgent truth: FGM will not end without long-term political will, consistent funding, enforceable laws, and community-led change.
As we move closer to 2030, the global deadline to eliminate harmful practices under Sustainable Development Goal 5.3, coordinated action has never been more urgent. Governments, donors, UN bodies, and civil society must act together so that no woman or girl is left behind.
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a serious human rights violation that causes irreversible physical and psychological harm. It is rooted in gender inequality and control over women’s and girls’ bodies.
FGM is a global issue. In our global report – The Time is Now: End female genital mutilation/cutting, an urgent need for global response 2025 – the practice has been identified in at least 94 countries, including places where it was previously undocumented. For the first time, global estimates recognise that 80 million survivors are in Asia, 6 million in the Middle East, and 1 to 2 million are in smaller or diaspora communities. Yet major gaps remain: only 31 countries have nationally representative survey data, while many others rely on studies, indirect evidence, or media reporting.
Despite decades of advocacy, progress is not keeping pace with the scale of the harm.
Without sustained commitment and investment, the world will fall short of ending FGM by 2030.
Equality Now, with research support from the Thomson Reuters Foundation is launching a new global report, Towards Justice: Global Challenges and Opportunities in Litigating Cases of Female Genital Mutilation (February 2026). The research explores how strategic litigation and implementation of existing laws can help eradicate FGM, while highlighting major barriers survivors face in accessing justice.
It draws on six landmark case studies and legal research across ten focus countries to identify what works, what fails, and what must change. It calls for survivor-centred approaches, stronger enforcement, and coordinated action to strengthen the role of law in ending FGM.
The global response to FGM must be context-specific, yet rooted in a shared commitment to equality, justice, and human rights. The following actions are essential:
Governments and the international community must prioritise FGM as a critical human rights issue, not a hidden or marginal one. Political leadership matters most when protections are under pressure. In The Gambia, efforts to weaken the anti-FGM law have shown how quickly anti-rights actors can mobilise to legitimise the practice. Leaders must prevent regression, uphold existing protections, and ensure laws remain aligned with regional and international human rights obligations.
Invest in research and data collection in all affected countries, especially where evidence is limited or indirect. Better data strengthens prevention, improves services, enables accountability, and helps ensure funding reaches neglected contexts. For example, WeSpeakOut’s recent publication, authored by Nevin Sulthan and Nawmi Naz Chowdhury, documents evidence of FGM in Kerala, India, underlining the importance of sustained, community-informed research.
Provide long-term, flexible support for grassroots organisations, survivor-led groups, and national movements driving change. Funding must match the global scale of FGM and reach regions that have historically been underfunded. Sustained investment is needed for prevention, survivor services, community-led work, legal implementation, and accountability over the long term.
Pass and implement comprehensive anti-FGM laws that cover all forms of the practice, strengthen prevention, and guarantee protection and support. Too many countries still lack adequate legal frameworks, and where laws exist they are often weakly implemented.
For example, in Liberia, temporary moratoria have signalled political intent but have not delivered lasting change. Liberia needs a permanent, comprehensive law that criminalises FGM, ensures protection and support for those at risk, and is backed by clear implementation measures, resourced justice systems, and safe reporting pathways, particularly in rural and traditional settings where fear and stigma remain high.
In Colombia, proposed legislation provides a prevention-focused, survivor-centred approach, with clear state responsibilities, improved data collection, and coordinated public policy. Passing the bill against FGM in Colombia is vital to close gaps and avoid losing momentum on urgently needed prevention and protection measures.
A survivor-centred response must be at the heart of efforts to end FGM, recognising survivors as rights-holders with diverse needs beyond the act itself. This includes access to confidential, affordable health care, including sexual and reproductive health services, mental health and psychosocial support, legal support, and accurate information about available options.
Access to care remains deeply unequal in many contexts, including in the Middle East and North Africa, where specialist services can be limited and concentrated in a small number of facilities. For some survivors, this may include access to reconstructive surgery where it is medically appropriate and freely chosen. Reconstructive surgeries may be one possible element of dignified, informed support grounded in bodily autonomy, consent, and long-term wellbeing.
Equality Now works to end FGM through a survivor-centred, legally grounded, and globally coordinated approach that complements the wider movement.
FGM must end everywhere. This will only be possible with sustained commitment, investment, and accountability.