Plan UK: Because I am a Girl Campaign #FGMrose

As a father to a girl, I find the whole concept of female genital mutilation (sometimes euphemistically called female circumcision- I was circumcised as a youth and the phrase is utterly not relevant in this situation, in fact it’s use makes me boil) utterly reprehensible. So when Plan UK asked me to help publicise their campaign, I obviously agreed. Even though I’m obviously not a girl. The thought that someone could decide that this is the right thing to do to little girls like my daughter is outrageous in today’s society and it needs to be stopped.

A major new push as part of the world’s biggest girls’ rights campaign is set to tackle Female Genital Mutilation. Children’s charity Plan UK is calling for the practice to be eradicated as part of its flagship Because I am a Girl work.

The charity vowed to act as research reveals 125 million girls and women the world over are living with the consequences of being cut. Plan’s Because I am a Girl campaign has reached 58 million girls worldwide to date, including work to eradicate FGM and child marriage.

Though illegal in the UK and many other countries, a number of complex cultural and social reasons mean FGM is still practised, such as a belief it protects chastity. Plan’s projects in Africa and Asia have shown that having knowledge of the harmful impact of FGM, as well as understanding how it is linked to discrimination against women and girls, can help end it.

If you want to find out more about Plan UKs involvement, you can read about it here.

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