Image: Winnie Maru (centre) at the Fifth Feminist Leadership, Movement Building and Rights Institute in Nairobi earlier in January.

Women’s rights activists from 17 countries across Africa, have
issued a statement
on FGM, calling on African Governments, civil society organisations and all
women to take steps to eliminate the practice, “a human rights violation – an extreme
form of violence against women and girls”, as a matter of urgency.

The statement was drawn up at a training event in Nairobi for
organisations working to end Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting organised by Equality Now from 27-31 January. Winnie Maru of Soroptimist
International of Eldoret (Kenya) was among the event participants. 

FGM is a cultural ritual where a girl’s genitalia are cut in order to
reduce sexual desire. An estimated 100 to 140 million girls and women
worldwide have been subjected to FGM; it is prevalent in 28 African
countries and parts of the Middle East and Asia.  20 of the 28
practising countries in Africa have banned FGM but enforcement is weak.
Each year, it is thought that 3 million girls and women undergo FGM,
most of them under the age of 15.  

Winnie Maru, a member of Soroptimist International of Eldoret (Kenya), attended a forum on “State
Responsibility, Role & Challenges in ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)” during the five-day event. 

“We need to up the momentum towards
ending this practice. Commitment is needed by all”, tweeted Winnie from the
event. “No single approach can end FGM. Multiple
approaches need to be used to end this practice”.

Speakers emphasised that Government had
a vital role in making and enforcing laws against FGM, but civil society
organisations and inviduals, male and female, must also play a part. "FGM is
seen as a NGO or a women’s issue [but] men
are the ‘consumers’ of the brand & should be at the forefront of #EndFGM”, tweeted
Winnie.

The forum also  emphasised the need for alternative rites of
passage for girls and economic empowerment of women, including for those who
have made their living by carrying out FGM.  “There are other roles that the circumcisers play in society.
They need to be given alternative means of being economically empowered.”

Read the
full statement from activists attending
the training workshop on “Holding Duty Bearers to Account: Building Local
Organizations’ Capacity to End Female Genital Mutilation”

Read about SIGBI
federation activity to eliminate FGM – one of the case studies of
Soroptimist action to end violence against women and girls in the Global Impact
Report 2012-13.