FGM Zero Tolerance Day 2021
NHS Government FGM - Female Genital Mutilation
End FGM once and for all say campaigners launching animations of men talking about FGM
Men have a crucial role to play in ending female genital mutilation (FGM) say campaigners launching the latest in a series of short animations amplifying the voices of men about FGM. The animations come during the week leading up to International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM on 6 February. More than 200 million women and girls worldwide and around 137,000 women and girls in the UK are living with the consequences of FGM. Between April 2015 and September 2020, more than 25,000 women and girls received care and support from the NHS.
The FGM animation films can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC33RQaJyF3H5EyVlzY3V3rw an The three previous films in the series are already there and can be watched now.
This is the webinar from the launch.
Speakers
Janet Fyle MBE is a registered nurse and midwife and the Royal College of Midwives’ Professional Policy Advisor. Janet has been instrumental in the development of the series of #EndFGM Animations
Pastor Paul Dumbuya -is a Sierra Leonean Pastor. He was born an Islamic family but converted to Christianity in 1990. Pastor Paul is the go to person and is embedded into the Sierra Leonean community where he does naming ceremonies, birthdays marriages and holds counselling sessions in Peckham in London. He has become the go to person in the community for, family dispute and community cohesion and links in with local initiatives to End FGM. He does voluntary work for anti FGM organization KEEP THE DRUMS, LOSE THE KNIFE. (KDLK). He has been urgently highlighting the message of safeguarding girls during the COVID19 because of the lack of face to face contact with professionals and amplifying the message about abandoning FGM.
Dylema – is a spoken word Artist, crafting poetry to suit the occasion
Dr Leyla Hussein OBE, is a Psychotherapist and Founder of the Dahlia Project,
the UK’s first specialist therapeutic service for FGM survivors. She is a leading award-winning international campaigner against female genital mutilation (FGM) and her passion is to create safe spaces for women and girls., She created the ground-breaking Face of Defiance project which is a series of photographic portraits and interviews with FGM survivors. She is recognised as one of the key experts on this issue globally and her work has been presented at Oxford, Cambridge and many Ivy League faculties.
Gwen Kennedy is Director of Nursing Leadership & Quality and Regional Lead for Safeguarding at NHS England & NHS Improvement, London. Gwen has supported the FGM prevention programme through funding from the DH & NHS
Kwame Lestrade is an award-winning documentarist, writer & director of drama, Kwame's treatment of story, character and representation forms his distinctive and resonant voice. Exploring challenging issues around gender equality, he has pointed his craft at empowering men to challenge strongly-held beliefs - and break free of harmful cycles of the patriarchal mindset.
Victor Momoh is a model and actor and an activist for promoting humanity and the rights of women and girls. Victor has been instrumental in lending his voice to the work we do and was very helpful in framing the narrative for the animations. He is optimistic that his generation and those following him will no longer tolerate harm being done to girls/women in the name of culture or honour.
Tony MWebia is the Founder & Executive Director Men End FGM Movement, is an award winning Gender Equality Advocate from Kenya. He is the founder of Men End FGM Movement (#MenEndFGM), an online and offline campaign, that rallies men and boys to join the fight against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), child marriage and other forms of sexual and gender based violence. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from The University of Nairobi. His career spans over 10 years both in the NGO and Government agencies in Kenya. Aside from social work, he is a social media strategist with a bias in social change campaigns and is the Kenya anti FGM board reigning End FGM Social Media Activist. Tony is also a writer and he shares his personal experiences and views in the fight against FGM and other related harmful cultural practices with NGOs and governments. He was named national hero in Kenya in 2019 for his end FGM work and nominated for the Diversity and Inclusion Awards in Kenya as a Gender Equality Champion.
Suzanne Priest is a National Program Manager with the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). She leads HSI's effort to combat FGM and is the focal point for federal, state and local law enforcement training around the country. She is also national lead on implementing and coordinating Operation Limelight USA, which is HSI’s education and outreach program. She joined U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2011 after serving 20 years in the U.S. Military. Suzanne holds an MBA and BS in Education
Jon Skewes isExecutive Director of External Relations at the Royal College of Midwives. His role encompasses being the RCM’s senior negotiator as well as being responsible for engaging on strategic employment and workforce matters in the NHS. Jon is responsible for policy, global ,safety and quality teams in the RCM and oversight generally of its work to influence and collaborate with others. He represents the RCM on the TUC General Council, the NHS Staff Council, the Social Partnership Forum and the Public Services Forum. He is Vice Chair of Unions 21.
Solomon Zewolde PhD, is a researcher and an educator; he is a volunteer change agent and champion in the fight against FGM and all other forms of violence against women. Deeply touched by the stories and experiences FGM survivors in his native Ethiopia, Dr Zewolde decided to speak out against the practice. He believes men can and should play a key role campaigning for abandonment of FGM. He joined FORWARD in 2013 as a volunteer change agent to raise awareness among men. In the past few years, he has been working as a researcher and co-trainer in the Men Speak Out Project and have succeeded in getting more men from FGM affected communities across the UK to speak out against FGM.
Woven Ink are an independent animation and creative studio. They work with socially conscious and progressive organisations and individuals; sharing their stories in compelling and beautiful ways. They exist to create ripples of positive change.