Pioneering Approach to End FGM/C Now.

We seek to engage the whole community to end FGM and any form of violence against women through
working with men, elders and indigenous groups and hold separate meetings for women and girls to
educate them on the risks of FGM. FGM being the worst form of violence against women we wish to end
FGM at a family and village level through convincing people of its dangers in a well thought out and
thorough manner that will change attitudes in the long term. By setting up representatives with mobile
phones and advertising the numbers as Anti FGM helplines we would be able to help girls and women
access information, receive assistance in cases of coercion or when FGM has been carried out, without
these women having to face potentially hostile authority figures or having any stigma attached to
themselves cases of FGM go unreported.. We also seek to be able to collect accurate information on the
occurrence of FGM and use this information to lobby local and national leaders to create more effective
policies for combating FGM. Girls will be informed of the dangers of FGM and that they should not be
subjected to FGM/CUT. We will seek to ensure that men and boys are sensitized to the consequences of
FGM for women to help to de-stigmatise girls who have not under gone FGM. Girls who are not cut face
segregation from family to village level whereby they cannot shake adds with elderly or fetch water
together with other cut girls. Cut girls are not allowed to play with uncut girls. This is what happens in
remote villages of Tharaka Nithi , Embu and Meru. Young men are advised not to marry uncut girls by
the elderly and when married they are considered anathema and insult to the ancestors. Our workshops
will de-stigmataze the girls by giving them alternative rite of passage this is to make sure they will not
bow to pressure and coercion and face the blade. We are focused to see individuals from marginalized
groups reached by the project become active in advocating for SRHR and men and boys are active
advocating for SRHR for women and are actively involved in advocacy for women rights at grassroots
level. We are determined to replace FGM with alternative rite of passage which we invented "Red
Ribbon Campaign" we have also come up with tailor made approaches where families sign a "legal
document" to commit themselves they will not cut girls in their families and they will accept uncut girls to
be married in their families and they will not be Cut. This initiative is meant to End FGM patriarchal
incarnations once and once for all by breaking it backbone. Before the families sign the document to end
the FGM in their generation they are trained first and educated on scientific and health related problems
caused by the Cut to women and girls. they are made to understand legal aspects of it. Many families
don't know it's a crime to mutilate girls so our grassroots workshops we educate the villagers and
families on the topics health and law.

Links:

• https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/red-ribbon-campaign-rite-of-passage-to-end-fgm-c/