This is a story of courage, bravery and heroism of some little girls in a Liberian village. In order to protect the safety of the girls and the person who protected them, we will not disclose their names and location.
A week ago, some little girls between the ages of eight and eleven in a remote Liberian village acted on their suspicions and successfully escaped from their would-be female circumciser. The girls, who all lost their parents in the Ebola crisis approximately two years ago, lived in the care of a guardian. The guardian, who supports the practice of female genital mutilation/cutting, had scheduled the circumcision of the girls. However there were older girls who had already undergone the procedure a year earlier and they knew what was planned for the younger girls. They alerted the little girls of their fate, and urged them to run away.
It is common knowledge in the village that a certain woman is an outspoken anti-FGM activist. The older girls assisted the younger girls in their escape and guided them to the anti-FGM activist’s home for safety. The activist admitted the girls into her home and kept them safe, while she sought added protection for the girls from a contact in the United States.
Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation was contacted for assistance, and the organization wasted no time in seeking advice and assistance from its partner, Equality Now and certain U.S. Government Agencies. Everyone involved took the case seriously and acted speedily in securing added safety and protection for the girls. The primary object was the safety of the little girls, and within a matter of three days, the girls had been placed in safer place, where they would no longer be at risk of undergoing the heinous experience of female genital mutilation/cutting.
Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation applauds the older girls, the little girls as well as the lady who admitted them into her home and secured their safety. Thanks and appreciations go out to Equality Now, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Human Rights Special Prosecution, the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Monrovia and the organization, THINK Liberia. With everyone working collectively and promptly, these little girls were spared the trauma of experiencing a lifetime of traumatic pain.
One week before the historical visit of the U.S. First Lady, Michelle Obama to the West African Republic of Liberia, these little girls were fleeing from the vicious blade of a female circumciser in that country. The purpose of the First Lady’s visit to Liberia is to promote education and safety for girls. But does Mrs. Obama know that girls are commonly pulled out of conventional schools to be taken to the Sande Bush School for the purpose of undergoing FGM/C? Her visit to Liberia is during the high season for female genital mutilation/cutting. With schools out for the summer, the girls are at the biggest risk of being taken into the Sande Bush for passage to womanhood.
This story is being shared because it is important for little girls all over the world to know and understand that there is a support system in place for them. They must know that they are not alone when they are being threatened with female genital mutilation/cutting. They must be taught to seek safety and from whom to seek protection. These little girls stood up for themselves and because they did, they will not have to live with the psychological effects of FGM/C.
For questions and comments about this story, please contact Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation at info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org.