Make Art, Not FGM!

On the word of the World Health Organization, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is recognized internationally as a desecration of the human rights of girls and women. The practice violates a person's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death. Apart from violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which asks to ‘protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse” because it is nearly always carried out on minors.The motives for FGM are deep-rooted into history, traditions and socioeconomic norm, and even linked to religion, but in reality it mirrors firmly fixed inequality between both genders, and represents an extreme form of discrimination against women. FGM, a blend of mental and painful physical violence, is the most acute case of domination and inequality towards women. Ranging from partial or complete removal of the outer female genitalia to other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons (pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing the genital area) FGM has both mental and physical consequences like: depression, anxiety, PTSD, low self-confidence, haemorrhage, shock, infections, vaginal, urinary, menstrual and sexual problems, and death. Our project’s aims are to fight misogyny and the gender discrimination, to promote basic human rights for all females, respect for human dignity, equality and the rule of law. Through our project we aim to train youth workers, and through them educate young people and communities about FGM and its detrimental effects not only to women, but to the entire family and society, too. We aim to reinforce cooperation with official institutions and support them in enforcing the laws against FGM, which existing or not are often broken, especially in Africa and Indonesia. Youth workers will get the needed handbooks, guides to understand the problem and will get the skills in using art and social medias into raising awareness and fighting against it. They will have skill and competences in developing youth work and fighting FGM. In reality, FGM itself is a contributor to migration as well. Young girls and women who are trying to escape the peer pressure from their native community, or families who consider their daughters need protecting from the environment seek asylum in European countries and elsewhere. FGM is a cause for asylum in Europe. The project is one which will also build the capacities of youth workers and youth organisations with respect to this issue. The way in which goals will be attained is through the means of art. Art has always had the unique power to speak about social issues to all concerned