Vital Voices is Calling on the International Community to Take Action
On February 6, Vital Voices joins other organizations around the world to commemorate the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation and calls for the end of the practice.
Violence against women and girls has an immense global impact—crossing cultural, socioeconomic, religious, and economic boundaries. Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) is a clear violation of human rights. More than 200 million women and girls today are survivors of FGM/C, according to the United Nations. Although it negatively impacts millions of women and girls everyday—FGM/C has not received enough attention on the global agenda. On the International Day of Zero Tolerance to End FGM, Vital Voices calls on governments, the international community, and donors to:
- Strengthen the global political commitment to eliminating FGM/C
- Increase resources and investments to end FGM/C and support survivors
- Enact and enforce comprehensive laws and policies
- Improve the well-being of survivors by providing necessary and critical support services
Through the Voices Against Violence (VAV): The Gender-Based Violence Global Initiative, Vital Voices seeks to provide: (1) the most comprehensive services possible to survivors of gender-based violence (GBV), (2) raise awareness, and (3) engage with community members and policymakers.
The VAV initiative is a public–private partnership with the U.S. Department of State and the Avon Foundation for Women that was created in 2013 to counter GBV on multiple fronts simultaneously. The program works to meet the needs of survivors, change the ingrained cultural drivers of GBV, and improve access to justice for survivors.
Through the VAV’s Urgent Assistance Fund, Vital Voices offers direct assistance and support during the worst moments of survivors’ lives. It has supported over 3,000 survivors in 50 countries, including 233 survivors of FGM/C, since its inception.
Vital Voices has funded local grassroots organizations to develop awareness campaigns and gender-based violence advocacy strategies around the world, including NGOs working in Sub-Saharan Africa to advocate against FGM/C. Vital Voices has also partnered with four local organizations in West Africa to promote awareness amongst local communities about the harmful consequences of FGM/C through training, awareness raising, and advocacy with inter-generational community groups. Local organizations worked with men in these communities to become advocates, as well, renouncing the practice of FGM/C as a harmful traditional practice and calling for more effective enforcement of laws to criminalize FGM/C.
Vital Voices stands against all forms of violence against women and girls. Vital Voices believes women and girls around the world should have the right to autonomy over their body and should be able to express their identities and voices freely.