Organizations That Deal With Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

• African Women's Health Center is located at the Brigham and Women's Hospital.  "The African Women's Health Center is located at the Brigham and Women's Hospital which is a Harvard Affiliated Hospital. The overall mission of the AWHC is to holistically improve the health of refugee women who have undergone female genital cutting. It provides access, understanding and community to refugee women who have long-term complications from this tradition and who seek access to improved reproductive health care.
  
  Women who have undergone female genital cutting worry that practitioners lack the experience to provide quality care. They have expressed dissatisfaction with their care. Practitioners, on the other hand, request skills necessary to approach and care for these patients. The fears these patients voice and the concerns that providers express are similar nationwide.
  
  The AWHC provides culturally and linguistically appropriate obstetric, gynecologic and reproductive health care to African immigrants and refugees. It is the first and only African health practice in the United State that focuses on issues regarding female genital cutting. It was founded in July 1999. It has increased its patient population from 8-10 women per session to 15-20 women per session. The patients are predominantly from Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia. Approximately ninety percent of these women have been circumcised. Defibulation procedures (plastic reconstruction of the scar) are routinely performed."

• Amanitare.  "MANITARE evolved from the need for a coordinated Pan-African effort to consolidate the skills, knowledge and institutional resources of groups and individuals active in the field of sexual and reproductive health, gender equality, and women's rights.
  
  AMANITARE is a ten-year initiative (1999-2009) with a mandate derived from the outcomes of The World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna 1993), The International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo 1994), and The Fifth World Conference on Women (Beijing 1995). In the course of these conferences declarations were drawn by national governments emphasizing the importance of a wide range of women's sexual and reproductive health and rights for overall social development. All forms of gender-based violence and violations were deemed unacceptable.
  
  This initiative is an effort to facilitate the translation of the principles embodied in these agreements into the daily realities of African women and girls. It aims to create a better political, economic and social environment to enable them to enjoy their lives without fear of control or coercion because of their sexuality or reproductive potential.
  
  While there are many African groups and networks currently working on different aspects of women's health, economic development, legal rights and violence against women, there is no regional effort to consolidate and advance work with a clear agenda on women's sexual and reproductive health rights."
• American Medical Association (AMA).  "The American Medical Association helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional and public health issues." 
• Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA).  "Founded in 1975, the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) is an internationally recognized non-profit organization that improves the lives of women and girls in developing countries.
  
  Our approach is to work hand-in-hand with women leaders, local partners, and national and international organizations to give women the tools they need to improve their lives, families and communities."
• Circumcision Information and Resource Pages (CIRP).  "The Circumcision Information and Resource Pages are an Internet resource that provide you with information about all aspects of the genital surgery known as circumcision.
  
  CIRP is essentially divided into two parts:
  
  The Circumcision Reference Library contains technical material,
  medical and historical articles, and statistics.
  
  The Circumcision Information Pages contain a more readable collection of information, suitable for parents and educators.
  
  This site has links to information on the rights of the child, religious issues, and related issues."  Female circumcision page.  
• Female Genital Cutting Education and Networking Project.  "The purpose of the FGM Education and Networking Project is the dissemination on-line and offline of material related to female genital mutilation, otherwise known as female circumcision. The Project seeks to form an online clearinghouse and a community for researchers, activists, attorneys, and health care practitioners to obtain information and network with others involved in similar projects." 
• Feminist.com.  " Feminist.com is a ten-year-old activist community and portal of resources and information that supports women's equality, justice, wellness and safety. The Feminist.com web site was founded to initiate and facilitate grassroots mobilization, networking and communication around important political, health and educational issues related to women. Our web site is dedicated to promoting and sustaining women's well-being through the principles embodied in our motto: "Awareness, Education, Activism and Empowerment".
  
  Feminist.com supports women-friendly organizations, expands civic participation, promotes women's business development, and encourages women's self-sufficiency. We act as a catalyst and conduit for feminist ideologies and much more. The Feminist.com web site is a responsive community that offers resources for all women and provides a safe space for diverse dialogues.
  
  In the world today, millions of girls and women are still oppressed and treated like second-class citizens. Even in the United States, women continue to make less than men for equivalent work, and girls and women are disproportionately burdened by poverty and targeted with violence. Facing these challenges, many concerned women - and men - are working to make the world a better, more just, more equal place for all of us. If you are one of these people, then Feminist.com is for you..."  Section on FGM. 
• Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development.  "FORWARD is an international non-governmental organisation dedicated to improving the health and well-being of African women and girls wherever they reside. FORWARD promotes action to stop harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM) and early and forced marriages, which violate the human rights of women and girls and adversely affect their health and well-being."
• Guttmacher Institute.  "The Guttmacher Institute is a nonprofit organization focused on sexual and reproductive health research, policy analysis and public education. The Guttmacher Institute publishes Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, International Family Planning Perspectives, The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy and special reports on topics pertaining to sexual and reproductive health and rights. The Institute's mission is to protect the reproductive choices of all women and men in the United States and throughout the world. It is to support their ability to obtain the information and services needed to achieve their full human rights, safeguard their health and exercise their individual responsibilities in regard to sexual behavior and relationships, reproduction and family formation.
• Human Rights Internet (HRI).  "Founded in 1976, HRI is a leader in the exchange of information within the worldwide human rights community. Launched in the United States, HRI has its headquarters in Ottawa, Canada. From Ottawa, HRI communicates by phone, fax, mail and the Internet with more than 5,000 organizations and individuals around the world working for the advancement of human rights."
• International Coalition for Genital Integrity.  "The International Coalition for Genital Integrity is an alliance of organizations dedicated to protecting the normal anatomy of males, females and the intersexed, and supporter of the Genital Integrity Resolution. ICGI was formed to coalesce the many activist organizations, each with a specific focus, into one, common voice. Added to them are organizations and companies who also agree that every human has a right to a whole and intact body. Organizational members include healthcare professionals, psychologists, researchers, attorneys, journalists, ethicists, academicians, and citizen activists dedicated to ending unnecessary genital cutting."
• International Planned Parenthood Federation.  "IPPF has been providing sexual and reproductive health services since 1952. We have Member Associations and millions of volunteers working to support people’s rights in around 180 countries worldwide – particularly those who are poor, underserved or marginalized. See a list of our members."
• National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers.  "Dedicated to making a safer world, NOCIRC is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit organization committed milos.jpg (10748 bytes) to securing the birthright of male, female, and intersex children and babies to keep their sex organs intact.
  
  On March 15, 1986, a group of healthcare professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area, lead by Marilyn Milos RN, announced the (1985) founding of the National Organization of Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC); the first national clearinghouse in the United States for information about circumcision. In its first decade, NOCIRC grew into an international network and now has more than 110 centers worldwide.
  
  NOCIRC provides educational material about the structures, functions, development, and care of normal penile anatomy and offers information about circumcision and the care of the circumcised as well as the intact penis. NOCIRC suggests that circumcision be performed only when it is absolutely medically necessary, after all non-invasive therapies have failed, or when an adult gives consent, after he has been fully informed about the risks and harm of the surgery. NOCIRC's position is based on the fact that not one national or international medical association in the world—including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association—recommends routine infant circumcision and now, recognizing the harm and life-long consequences, some are recommending against it."
• PATH.  "PATH is an international, nonprofit organization that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. By collaborating with diverse public- and private-sector partners, we help provide appropriate health technologies and vital strategies that change the way people think and act." 
• Population Council.  "The Population Council, an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, seeks to improve the well-being and reproductive health of current and future generations around the world and to help achieve a humane, equitable, and sustainable balance between people and resources."
• RAINBO.  " Established in 1994, RAINBO is an African led international non-governmental organisation working on issues of women's empowerment, gender, reproductive health, sexual autonomy and freedom from violence as central components of the African development agenda.
  
  RAINBO specifically strives to enhance global efforts to eliminate the practice of Female Circumcision / Female Genital Mutilation (FC/FGM) through facilitating women's self-empowerment and accelerating social change." 
• Reproductive Health Outlook (RHO).  "The Reproductive Health Outlook (RHO) website provides up-to-date summaries of research findings, program experience, and clinical guidelines related to key reproductive health topics, as well as analyses of policy and program implications. An important objective of RHO is to help users link with quality online resources and collaborate with colleagues around the world.
  
  RHO is published by PATH. It follows the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of reproductive health, as defined at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. Like its companion print publication, Outlook, RHO presents key research findings and program information related to a variety of reproductive health issues.
  
  The RHO editors, Advisory Board, and staff ensure that the information included in RHO is accurate and current, and that the programmatic implications are appropriate. Whenever possible, the conclusions from evidence-based analyses will be included as described in WHO's Reproductive Health Library."
• Stop FGM!  "Stop Female Genital Mutilation."
• Tostan.  " Tostan, which means "breakthrough" in the language of the Wolof of Senegal and the Gambia, is a non-profit and non-governmental organization incorporated in the United States in 1991 and based in Thiès, Senegal.
  
  The mission of Tostan is to contribute to the human dignity of African people through the development and implementation of a non-formal, participatory education program in national languages. Tostan provides learners with the knowledge and skills to become confident, resourceful actors in the social transformation and economic development of their communities.
  
  Tostan pedagogy combines traditional and modern techniques to help bring about positive change on the personal, community and national level. A guiding principle of the Tostan method is based on the African tradition of participation and respectful consultation of all those concerned and affected by the implementation of any eventual decisions or policies. Villagers themselves determine their future goals and obstacles to overcome in order to achieve those goals.
  
  Quality, holistic education and development activities based on principles of human rights provide communities with the tools to direct their own social and economic transformation."
• U.S. Department of State Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Female Genital Cutting (FGC): Individual Country Reports.  "Individual country reports on FGM or FGC are used as factual background material by INS asylum adjudicators. They were developed and released by the Office of the Senior Coordinator for International Women's Issues, U.S. Department of State, on June 1, 2001."
• World Medical Association (WMA).  "The World Medical Association (WMA) is an international organization representing physicians. It was founded on 17 September 1947, when physicians from 27 different countries met at the First General Assembly of the WMA in Paris. The organization was created to ensure the independence of physicians, and to work for the highest possible standards of ethical behaviour and care by physicians, at all times. This was particularly important to physicians after the Second World War, and therefore the WMA has always been an independent confederation of free professional associations. Funding has been by the annual contributions of its members, which has now grown to approximately 80 National Medical Associations.
  
  The WMA provides a forum for its member associations to communicate freely, to co-operate actively, to achieve consensus on high standards of medical ethics and professional competence, and to promote the professional freedom of physicians worldwide.
  
  This unique partnership facilitates high-calibre, humane care to patients in a healthy environment, enhancing the quality of life for all people in the world."  Section on FGM.