End of the discussion on legislation against FGM

We have now come to the end of our thematic discussion on Law & FGM.  It’s time to summarize these last weeks – what have we collectively learnt? 

During the last month, we have shared a range of information on legislation against FGM.  

We started with an overview of the international and regional frameworks on FGM.

This followed by a overview of national laws against FGM and what has changed since the last thematic discussion on this topic, in 2019.

We then moved on to the African continent. To better understand the situation with regard to FGM legislation, and lack thereof, in Africa, we interviewed Caroline Lagat from the Kenya-based NGO Equality Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ9eBQuZ0f0&t=2s 

We also organized a Webinar (in French), focusing on 4 African countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Chad). The recording is available on our Youtube channel (in French). A detailed report of the webinar will be available soon in English (and French) on the website. 

We also interviewed Harold Marvin Aidoo, founder and executive director of Integrity Watch Liberia, whose video interview on the lacking anti-FGM legislation in his country was shared this week.

Moving away from Africa, we also shared information about legislation in Asia before moving on to low-prevalence countries. 

We first focused of anti-FGM legislation in North America. Mariya Taher from Sahyio shared her knowledge of state and federal anti-FGM legislation in the US in a video interview.

Finally, we shared information about legislation and court cases in Europe. For the latter, we told you about a very recent case in Portugal, where the sentence of a mother was cancelled – and on which a member shared her insight with the group.

We hope you enjoyed this thematic discussion and that the resources we have gathered together will be useful in the future!

Did you enjoy reading about anti-FGM legislation in different contexts? Did you learn anything? Please share with us moderators so that we know how to adapt to future discussions!  

A big thank you to all experts who participated as speakers in the Webinar or in video interviews, who shared information about your region with the CoP moderators to help prepare for the discussion – and to those of you who shared your thoughts directly with the Community on this google group!