WIREDGOV

A London-based community group running workshops to educate students and health professionals on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is expanding their service after receiving almost £10,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

Educate Not Mutilate project

Educate Not Mutilate is one of almost 400 charities and community groups in London, doing vital work with communities, to receive a share of nearly £17 million in funding from The National Lottery Community Fund in the last three months.*

Hibo Wardere, co-founder of Educate Not Mutilate, was six-years-old when she experienced FGM in Somalia. Ms Wardere aims to end the practice by spreading her story through educational workshops across the country to help professionals identify victims and those who seek support.

The Educate Not Mutilate sessions empower women to take full autonomy over their bodies as victims of FGM, having often endured physical and mental health issues as a result of their abuse, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and complications during childbirth.

In the first two months since starting the Educate Not Mutilate project, 3,500 student midwives, health professionals, and school students have attended one of their sessions, which are tailored to tie into the secondary educational curriculum.

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