FGM victims’ fury as academics compare practice to cosmetic surgery

Any honest critique of global efforts to address female genital mutilation must begin here:

Girls’ bodies were altered without their consent.
That harm is real.
It is embodied.
And it does not disappear when the response to it is imperfect.

We can—and must—hold complexity without loosening our grip on truth.

A woman-centered approach does not deny nuance.
It refuses erasure.

Survivors Must Remain at the Center

No policy discussion, ethical debate, or cultural critique should move faster or louder than the women who live with the consequences.

Survivors are not an “interest group.”
They are not symbolic figures.
They are the moral center.

Their voices do not need to be managed, softened, or strategically balanced.
They need to be heard, protected, and resourced.

Now more than ever, Survivor voices are essential—not as illustrations of harm, but as leaders shaping the future.

Survivors will drive the narratives.
Survivors will drive the movements.
And Survivors will not be asked to disappear for the comfort of institutions, cultures, or academic debate.

Naming the Gendered Reality Matters

Female genital cutting did not emerge in a vacuum.

It is carried out for the benefit of men—
to regulate female sexuality,
to enforce marriageability,
to ensure male lineage,
to preserve male entitlement to women’s bodies.

Any approach that obscures this reality risks misplacing responsibility.

This is not about blaming communities wholesale.
It is about naming gendered power honestly.

When harm is gendered, solutions must be as well.

Where the Work Belongs—and Who Must Carry It

Women and girls have carried the physical, emotional, and social cost of this practice for generations.

They cannot also be tasked with fixing the systems that benefit men.

Where work needs to be done with men—
on entitlement, control, sexual access, and power or even circumcision—
men must lead and labor in that work.

That labor includes:

• challenging male norms within communities

• confronting sexual entitlement

• dismantling the belief that women’s bodies exist for regulation

• refusing silence when other men defend or excuse harm

This is not women’s unpaid labor to perform again. (Especially when it goes unappreciated and unprotected. ) 

Cultural Respect Cannot Mean Female Disappearance

Respect for culture does not require women’s pain to become invisible.

Listening to communities must never mean:

• muting women within those communities

• sidelining girls’ bodily autonomy

• or treating harm as an unfortunate misunderstanding

A woman-centered ethic insists that culture is not static, and that women are not passive carriers of tradition—they are moral agents.

A Better Way Forward

A truly ethical, human-centered approach would:

• center survivors without qualification

• name gendered power clearly

• protect girls without apology

• invite cultural dialogue without surrendering bodily autonomy

• require men to take responsibility for changing male-benefiting systems

This is not a call for spectacle.
It is a call for integrity.

We Can Do Better—And We Must

Women are not asking for perfection.
They are asking not to be erased.

Degree or no degree, women know what their own pain feels like.

They are asking that complexity not be used as a curtain.
They are asking that their bodies not become footnotes.
They are asking that protection remain the priority.

And they are right.

This work moves forward only when women are centered, Survivors are trusted, and truth is not diluted in the name of balance.

Anything less is not nuance.

It is disappearance.

🌍 Global & International (Women-Centered)

Equality Now

https://www.equalitynow.org
Global legal advocacy organization centering girls’ and women’s bodily integrity, law reform, and survivor-informed action to end FGM.

End FGM European Network

https://www.endfgm.eu
A coalition of women-led organizations across Europe working to protect girls, support Survivors, and hold systems accountable.

The Orchid Project

https://www.orchidproject.org
Works globally with women and girls to end FGM through survivor-centered, community-based change while clearly naming harm.

28 Too Many

https://www.28toomany.org
Research-driven advocacy focused exclusively on ending FGM and protecting girls, with a strong women’s rights framework.

🧕🏽 Survivor-Led & Community-Rooted

FORWARD (Foundation for Women’s Health Research and Development)

https://www.forwarduk.org.uk
Black- and African-diaspora women-led organization centered on women’s health, dignity, and survivor-informed care.

Safe Hands for Girls

https://safehandsforgirls.org
Founded and led by Survivors of FGM, centering survivor voices, protection, and education without dilution.

Daughters of Eve

https://daughtersofeve.org
Survivor-led organization working to protect girls and amplify women’s lived experience in ending FGM.

⚖️ Human Rights (Women-Centered Framing)

Human Rights Watch – Women’s Rights Division

https://www.hrw.org/topic/womens-rights
Documents FGM as violence against girls and women, centering survivor testimony and accountability.

Amnesty International – Women’s Rights

https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/womens-rights/
Frames FGM as a human rights violation against women and girls, advocating for protection and legal enforcement.

🩺 Health & Protection (Clear About Harm)

World Health Organization – FGM

https://www.who.int/health-topics/female-genital-mutilation
Defines FGM as a human rights violation, focusing on lifelong health impacts on female bodies and survivor care.

Global Alliance Against FGM

https://www.globalallianceagainstfgm.org
International alliance supporting prevention, survivor care, and women-centered advocacy.

What FGM and “Gender-Critical” Child Medicalization Have in Common