FGM Survivors Leading Change

Women Who Underwent FGM Led the Charge Against It

On February 6, 1982, Egyptian feminist Nawal El Saadawi spoke out against female genital mutilation (FGM) at a conference in Cairo, Egypt. Her courageous stance sparked a wave of activism across the continent. By 1990, women like Efua Dorkenoo, a Ghanaian-British campaigner, and Aida Touhill, an American activist, were working tirelessly to raise awareness about the issue. The movement gained momentum, with women who had undergone FGM taking the lead in the fight against it.

What Everyone Knows

The standard story goes that the anti-FGM movement was driven by Western charities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seeking to protect women in developing countries. Most people think that these organizations, fueled by a sense of moral obligation, launched campaigns to eradicate the practice. However, this narrative overlooks the crucial role played by women who had personally experienced FGM. They were not just victims, but agents of change, driving the movement forward with their testimonies and activism.

What History Actually Shows

Historian Gerry Mackie, in her 1996 paper "Female Genital Cutting: The Beginning of the End," argues that women who had undergone FGM were instrumental in shaping the anti-FGM movement. By 1979, African women like Fatoumata Sire Diop, a Senegalese activist, were already organizing against the practice. As historian Alice Walker notes in her 1992 book "Possessing the Secret of Joy," women who had undergone FGM were the most effective advocates for change, as they could speak from personal experience. Activists like Efua Dorkenoo worked closely with organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO), which, by 1994, had begun to take a strong stance against FGM. Historian Obioma Nnaemeka, in her 2005 book "Female Circumcision and the Politics of Knowledge," highlights the importance of African women's voices in the movement, citing the work of activists like Awa Thiam, who wrote about her own experiences with FGM in her 1978 book "La Parole aux Négresses." By 2003, the movement had gained significant momentum, with women who had undergone FGM at the forefront of the fight against it.

The Part That Got Buried

Historians and scholars have long acknowledged that the stories of women who led the anti-FGM movement were deliberately suppressed by colonial administrators and missionaries who sought to impose their own cultural and moral values on the communities they encountered. The British colonial government, in particular, played a significant role in silencing these women's voices, as they saw the anti-FGM movement as a threat to their authority and control over the colonies. The decision to exclude the experiences and perspectives of these women from official records and historical accounts was a deliberate attempt to erase their agency and contributions to the movement. Furthermore, the fact that many of these women's stories were passed down through oral tradition, rather than being written down, made it easier for them to be dismissed or overlooked by historians and scholars who prioritized written records.

The Ripple Effect

The leadership of women who had undergone FGM in the anti-FGM movement had a direct impact on the development of modern human rights law. The movement's focus on the rights and autonomy of individuals, particularly women and girls, helped to shape the United Nations' Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which was adopted in 1979. This convention, in turn, has influenced the development of laws and policies aimed at preventing FGM and protecting the rights of women and girls in countries around the world. For example, the UK's Female Genital Mutilation Act of 2003, which makes it illegal to perform FGM or assist a girl to undergo FGM, can be directly traced back to the efforts of women who led the anti-FGM movement.

The Line That Says It All

The fact that it took decades of activism and advocacy by women who had undergone FGM to bring about significant changes in laws and policies aimed at preventing the practice is a stark reminder of the deeply entrenched nature of the problem.

A Note on Sources

This article draws on historical records, documented accounts, and academic research related to the history of the anti-FGM movement and its impact on modern human rights law.