in Dansk: Forening Mod Pikeomskæring, in Somali.
- The Association against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) was established on 17 August 2002 by a number of resource people and experts working to prevent FGM in Denmark. One of the driving forces behind the association was the women’s organisation Zonta, Denmark, who played an important part during the set up of the association … (about the Organisation 1/2).
english Homepage;
Lokal Networks; FAQs; Links; – only in Dansk: Forside; Nyheder;Viden om (Advice);
Address: Foreningen mod Pigeomskæring, Rosenørns allé 12, 1634 København, Denmark;
Contact online.
About the Organisation 2/2: … The association came as a natural follow-up on the information campaigns against FGM organised by the Danish National Board of Health during the late 90ies. Two of the active participants in the campaigns were the Danish Family Planning Association and Save the Children, Denmark and consequently they became natural partners of the association.
The debate about FGM emerged in Denmark during the 90ies when Denmark received a large group of refugess and immigrants from countries where FGM was tradition – Somalia being one of the most dominant countries.
The association’s starting point was a concern that a continued preventive effort was required. International experience shows that prevention of such a rooted tradition as FGM requires long-term action. Therefore, it was vital to continue the National Board of Helth’s three year information campaign from 1997-2000. Also, new people from communities where FGM is tradition continued to settle down in Denmark.
As part of a globalised world, Denmark takes part in the global fight against FGM which transcends national boundaries – just as the discussion about FGM among groups practising teh tradiation is transnational. Female geniital mutilation is a collective tradition, decided on by the community, which is scattered across the world due to wars and migration.
Furthermore, it was necessary to strengthen information efforts towards Danish profesionals working with this issue partly to ensure the best possible prevention and attention to girls’ rights and partly to ensure the best possible support from the public services when being exposed to FGM.
The association chose to continue some of the initiatives started by the National Board of Health – among others local networks consisting of health professionals and Somali resource people in eight cities all over Denmark. M
Moreover, the National Board of Health organised an annual national meeting where participants from the local groups met to exchange experience. Due to the limited number of resources, the association decided to concentrate its work to only five cities instead of eight. This has lead to the existence of both different local groups and network for Somali women in the five largest cities in Denmark.
This has made it possible to target preventive work locally, which is based on mutual understanding and a holistic approach. As a result, we have successfully integrated the issue FGM into realted issues such as education of children, health and cultural values through debate and information. Finally – at the request of Somali women – we have instigated an islamic statement of the position on FGM.
The association is member of the European network of organisations working to prevent FGM, EUROnet against FGM. Furthermore, we also work closely with our Nordic Colleagues with whom we meet up with every two years at a Nordic Conference, which Denmark hosted in 2005.
The association is governed by a Board of Directors presided by President Samia Yusuf Ali and has approx. 100 individual members and 13 member organisatons … (full text about the Organisation).