An association launches a campaign aimed at young girls. One in three is threatened with excision when she visits her parents’ country of origin.
Excision, or the eternal taboo. The gesture horrifies, his thought makes one look away. Who wants to know that one in three teenagers residing in France and whose parents come from a country that practices it, is threatened with sexual mutilation when she naively goes to her native land to spend a holiday? You have to think about it though. Think of these French women who, in the name of a tradition, have their flesh scratched and their intimacy destroyed.
A site for 12-18 year olds
The association “Excision, let’s talk about it!” » launched this Wednesday a prevention campaign and an information site for 12-18 year olds, www.alert-excision.fr Objective: to sensitize these young people to the risks they incur, but also all of France, which may believe, wrongly, that it is not concerned by the situation.
The website provides explanations for the youngest on what excision is and its consequences, the countries that practice it, as well as contact details for associations in France and Belgium. A test also makes it possible to assess the probability of such a situation occurring, depending on its origins, its movements and other parameters studied by the association.
The campaign, supported by the national authorities, will run until June 30, including a video posted on social networks and posters bearing the evocative slogan: “Are you thinking of going on vacation? “. The video will be available in April. In the meantime, an awareness spot is already available online.
60,000 circumcised women in France
“It’s about violence against women, against little girls, against those you can meet in the subway or in the street, who are in class with your sons and daughters. This is not a small problem, it is no longer possible to ignore this phenomenon, ”insists Moïra Sauvage, president of the association, in the video.
“Excision, let’s talk about it! estimates the number of circumcised women living on French territory at 60,000. To talk about it or report it, the toll-free numbers 119, Allo Enfance en Danger, and 3919, for women victims of violence, are available.
According to Unicef, 30 million young girls are at risk of being circumcised over the next ten years throughout the world. In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified more than 125 million victims of excision, practiced in 29 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
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