A group of grass-root women have joined up to advocate for change in Karamoja region. Lemsui Women's Group is composed of 30 reformed cutters who want to see Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) practice wiped out from their communities in a generation

Lemsui Women's Group in Morita Sub county, Nakapiripirit district has become advocates for change against the harmful cultural practice. The members say they have gone through FGM but they do not want their daughters to undergo the same pain. 

Thereza Naburu, also an advocate for change, narrates the ordeal a girl goes through when cut. "When you cut a girl, she suffers a lot. She can bleed to death. Sometimes she even finds difficulty delivering babies."

"I am telling women in my community to stop cutting young girls and look for other ways of survival. It is better to take our girls to school than cutting them and thereafter marrying them off," she says.

Supported by UNFPA, the women educate and sensitize communities about the dangers of FGM through music, drama and poems. 
During the commemoration of the third Zero Tolerance to FGM day in Morita Sub-county, Nakapiripirit district, February 19, ten former cutters also openly condemned the practice and surrendered their knives in public to the authorities.

Under the theme: "Mobilization and involvement of Health personnel to accelerate Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation", health workers were called upon to protect the sexual and reproductive health of those who have already undergone the practice when they seek medical care. Health workers were targeted because they have a deep understanding of the harmful consequences of this practice.

During the commemoration, speakers highlighted the support of health workers in the effort to end the practice because they have inside knowledge of the social dynamics in the communities they serve and the social norms that perpetuate FGM. During the event, district, clan leaders, elders and teachers signed a pledge, taking a clear and firm stand on FGM abandonment.

Above: Boys and girls carrying posters with messages on FGM abandonment

Other reformed mutilators handing over their knives to the Vice Chairperson LC5 Nakapiripirit District.