The End Domestic Violence and Female Genital Mutilation Project

Abstract

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) poses a huge health risk to women and girls and it is one of the highest causes of death across the world, with West Africa as no exception. Annually, an estimated 200 million women and girls globally are subjected FGM/C, resulting in dire health consequences. While this practice is illegal in most countries, it continues to gain traction through religious, traditions, cultural, and historical maneuverings. Often time the practice has little or no medical supervision, which further increases the contractions of all forms of STIs.

In Liberia alone, 65% of women and girls are vulnerable to sexual gender-based violence, a huge part of which is FGM/C conscription. This is most prevalent in remote parts of the country where access to basic social services are virtually non-existent. This alarming rate at which women are denied rights to choices and autonomy over their bodies, has hence objectified them vis-à-vis their male counterparts, whom mostly view them as either caregivers, and in some traditional settings, mere properties.

While there have been interventions by the Liberian government in the form of moratorium and draft legislations to curb FGM, not much concrete on-grounds actions and efforts have been exerted to tackle FGM perpetuation, as a result, the practice continues to have ripple effects on already challenged communities, depriving women of the agency to lead significant socio-development efforts to impact their communities. A number of civil society organizations (CSOs) and NGOs have initiated activities aimed at containing the practice; however, their interventions have not fully mirrored the full involvement of affected communities, often resulting into projects not meeting intended objectives.

This project builds on past experiences of interventions aimed at ending FGM and other forms of domestic and gendered violence by employing a community-based approach. As a bottom-top approach, it would empower local community residents to lead advocacy and awareness activities, subsequently resulting into behavioral change. Outcomes from these community engagements and interventions would feed into a nation-wide campaign for the passage of the Anti-FGM Act, which was drafted and have long lingered in ‘Committee Room’. The project aims at initiating behavioral changes that will subsequently lead to ending of FGM, under three key activities: Inception meetings/stakeholders buy-in, awareness and advocacy, and effective communications.