Photography Exhibition to Mark International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM

International anti-poverty charity ActionAid and Irish NGO for migrant women AkiDwA are hosting a photography exhibition in Filmbase, Temple Bar from 5th to 7th February to mark International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

The exhibition will be formally launched on Friday 5th February at 6pm by speakers from AkiDwA and ActionAid. This is a free event and all are welcome.

Female genital mutilation has been practised on more than 125 million girls from 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East. It is an ancient tradition and involves cutting, removing, or damaging healthy female genital tissue from girls, from infancy to 15 years old, causing severe health consequences on the survivors.

The exhibition tells the stories of women affected by FGM in Ireland and Kenya and the women who are fighting against the practice.

It is estimated that nearly 4,000 women and girls in Ireland have undergone FGM. AkiDwA’s work in the area of FGM, which is funded by HSE National Social Inclusion Office, aims to ensure no girls living in Ireland have to undergo the practice and those who have are adequately supported.

ActionAid Ireland coordinates a women’s rights programme funded by Irish Aid that specifically targets violence against women in four countries, Vietnam, Nepal, Malawi and Kenya. In the Kongelai and Kajiado regions of North West and Central Kenya FGM is still widely practiced; here ActionAid’s programme helps local women and girls to stand up against the practice through training and education as well as lobbying the government for better implementation of the laws prohibiting the practice.