Abandoning Female Genital Cutting: How a Respectful, Inclusive Approach Can End an Old Tradition

May 3, 2016

For the past 25 years, Tostan—an international nonprofit organization based in Dakar, Senegal—has provided a human rights-based, nonformal education program to rural communities in Africa. This program, offered in local languages, creates a space not only for learning, but also for dialogue, reflection, and collective decision-making. As a result, to date over 7,600 communities have together decided to abandon long-standing harmful traditional practices, such as female genital cutting (FGC). This presentation explored just how a human rights based approach, with an emphasis on dignity for all, has catalyzed social transformation across a region.