Female genital cutting involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. The practice has no health benefits for girls and women.

Sahiyo utilizes the term FGC because research and best practices informs us that to engage in dialogue and to create social change, we can’t come from a hostile position. The term ‘mutilation’ can be viewed with suspicion. This suspicion, in turn, makes it difficult for us to engage with people in a practicing community on FGC. We also understand that ‘mutilation’ comes with the connotation of ‘intending to harm’. As activists who engage in dialogue with communities to abandon FGC, by not using ‘mutilation’ we acknowledge that communities are not intending to harm their daughters. Rather they may continue FGC because of a belief it is in the girl’s best interest and/or feeling pressured into having FGC done on their daughter by others in the community. To learn more, read our Blog