Yesterday was International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM), a UN-sponsored day dedicated to
raising awareness of the thousands year-old practice whereby a
girl or woman’s genitals are cut. The WHO estimates that about
140 million women worldwide are currently living with the
consequences of FGM. It’s considered by many to be harmful to a
woman’s health and rights, as consent is rarely involved and the
procedure is rarely done in hygienic settings. The practice is
often described in the most cringe-worthy and heart string-
pulling ways (think legs tied down, shards of glass cutting at a
young girl’s genitals, for example) and has roots that are
centuries old and spread round the world. The act is not
religiously based – though it’s often (mistakenly) attributed to
or equated with Islam – but rather based in historical cultural
concepts of women’s worth and value. Notably, the most
successful campaign in history to end FGM is run by a global
organization called Tostan, whose efforts in