Supporting the Fight against Female Genital Mutilation: Promoting Women's Rights by Demanding the Full Enforcement of Law

European Parliament, Brussels, 6 February 2019


 
On the occasion of the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ), Differenza Donna NGO, l’Institut de Santé Génésique/Women Safe (France) and La Palabre (Belgium), in cooperation with MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri (President of the Sub-Committee on Human Rights of the European Parliament), organised a roundtable entitled “Supporting the Fight against Female Genital Mutilation: Promoting Women's Rights by Demanding the Full Enforcement of Law”, at the European Parliament in Brussels.
 
This event was organised as part of the BEFORE project (Best practices to Empower women against Female genital mutilation, Operating for Rights and legal Efficacy), supported by the European Union’s Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme (2014-2020). Bringing together civil society representatives, experts and institutional actors, the roundtable allowed for constructive dialogue on specific recommendations elaborated by the project partners to enhance effectiveness of political, legal and social responses to FGM in EU Member States.
 

 
Speakers to the roundtable included Pier Antonio Panzeri, President of the Sub-Committee on Human Rights, European Parliament;  Nice Nailantei Leng'ete, Kenyan human rights activist nominated among the 100 most influential people by the TIME magazine in 2018 and End FGM Global Advisor, Amref Health Africa; Fatoumata Sidibé Member of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region; Khady Koita, La Palabre, President; Frédérique Martz & Pierre Foldès, Institut de Santé Génésique / Women Safe - ISG, Co-Founders, Director and President; Emanuela Zuccalà, journalist and author of “UNCUT”; Ilaria Boiano, Differenza Donna; Valentine Audate, Head of Gender Unit, Office of the Belgian Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS); Maxence Daublain, Policy Officer on Child rights, gender, non-discrimination, Human Rights, Gender Equality and Democratic Governance unit, DG DEVCO at European Commission; Christa Jakobsson, Policy Officer, Gender Equality Unit, DG for Justice, Consumers & Gender Equality, European Commission.
 

 
The event was preceded by the vernissage of the exhibition “UNCUT: The revolution of women against FGM”. UNCUT is a photographic exhibition and web-documentary that celebrates the courage of women from three African countries (Somaliland, Kenya and Ethiopia) who have formed coalitions to fight against the cruelty of FGM. The exhibition, which has already received several prizes and will be hosted at the European Parliament from 4 to 8 February 2019, gives a collective voice to testimonies of pain, but also highlights courageous battles against the patriarchal logic of FGM that violates the dignity of women.
 
 
Date and venue: 6 February 2019, European Parliament Brussels

                                   18:00-18:30: Vernissage of the exhibition “UNCUT” (lobby ASP 00D)
                                   18:30-20:00: Roundtable discussion (room ASP A3H1)
                                   Simultaneous interpretation was provided in English, French and Italian