Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a harmful cultural practice which is deeply rooted in gender inequality, power imbalances and patriarchal norms. The practice limits women and girls’ potentials and subjects them to immediate, short-term and long-term negative health implications.

Globally, about 68 million girls are at risk of being mutilated by 2030. Protecting them will take a significant push to accelerate the abandonment of this harmful practice.

According to the 2019-2020 Demographic and Health Survey, 73% of women aged 15-49 in The Gambia have undergone FGM, with 46% of women believing that the practice should continue. This data calls for concerted efforts from all stakeholders to develop and implement holistic interventions which will contribute towards ending FGM within a generation.

Responding to the need to increase investments towards efforts to end FGM in the Gambia, UNFPA organised a private screening of SIRA, a film on FGM commissioned by the agency to enhance public information on the practice, thereby influencing voluntary and complete abandonment. The 1-hour fictional film highlights the power of adolescent girls to challenge harmful norms and practices and champion the eradication of FGM in their communities.

The private screening held in commemoration of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM, brought together various actors in the country to converse on opportunities for using film to inform public perception and call on government and other stakeholders to intensify interventions geared towards ending FGM everywhere in The Gambia.

Watch the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6xiidPA_Do

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Media contact: Haddy Jonga – Programme Analyst, Communications jonga@unfpa.org