SAFE HANDS FOR GIRLS

Focused on protecting young girls and women from the practice of Female Genital Mutilation in all it Safe Hands for Girls was established in Atlanta in 2013 by Jaha Dukureh, a young Gambian woman who had relocated to the U.S., to provide emotional and practical support to refugee and immigrant women -- FGM survivors-- from The Gambia and other African countries. Safe Hands quickly expanded its outreach to include adolescents and young women in their schools, reaching over 100 women and girls in the first year, and to train physicians on sensitive care for FGM survivors. Between 2013 and 2016, Safe Hands for Girls' achievements include the following:• Advocated successfully in 2014-2015 for legislation making FGM illegal in The Gambia. In 2016, child marriage, which is closely associated with FGM, was outlawed.• In early 2014, launched a petition signed by over 221,000 people, calling on the U.S. government to determine the prevalence of FGM in the U.S. That June, Safe Hands for Girls gave testimony before members of the House of Representatives. In January 2016, the CDC published the research showing that 503,000 women and girls in the U.S. are survivors or at risk of FGM. • Organized the first National Islamic Conference on FGM in The Gambia in January 2016. A• In December 2016, co-hosted the first U.S. Summit to End FGM with Equality Now in Washington, D.C., with the goals of 1) advancing the U.S. commitment to end the practice and 2) bringing together activists, civil society and government leaders to share best practices and to launch the ongoing U.S. Network to End FGM. Over 200 participants from 25 countries attended.In 2014, Safe Hands for Girls was incorporated in Georgia as a nonprofit organization with IRS 501(c)(3) status. In 2015 the organization received a certificate of incorporation as a charitable organization in The Gambia.In 2016 Jaha Dukureh was named to the Time 100 Most Influential list, a recognition which has brought significant new attention to FGM and Safe Hands for Girls. She was a spokesperson for The Guardian's Global Campaign to End FGM from 2014 until 2016.Safe Hands for Girls currently operates communications and advocacy programs in the U.S., and direct services programs in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. At the national level in The Gambia, we advocate for law enforcement and national plans of action. At the local level, we are expanding our education and advocacy programs into all six regions of the country. In Georgia, we are operating support programs for refugee and immigrant women and girls who are affected by or at risk of FGM. Between 2004 and 2015, over additional 28,000 refugees and immigrants resettled in Georgia. This population, which has low incomes, insufficient resources and lacks access to services, is highly concentrated in the metro Atlanta town of Clarkston, now home to people from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Senegal, Gambia and Somalia, all countries with a very high FGM prevalence. Working with the nonprofit Population Council, we have surveyed families from these countries to understand the number of girls between the ages of 7 and 24 in need of services.In The Gambia, our programs focus on educating young people and on advocacy and awareness building for the general population. The Gambia's population is 1.8 million (2013 census) and slightly over 50% female. Over 76% of women and girls have undergone FGM and face a range of physical and mental health consequences. The population is almost equally divided between urban and rural areas. According to the UN, the GDP per capita as of 2014 is $441.3 and according to a 2015 Unicef report, the school enrollment rate in urban areas is 97% but as low as 63% in some rural areas. The school completion rate for girls is only 74%, compared to boys. The most important initiative in The Gambia is our investment in youth education and youth leadership. In 2016, with the agreement and guidance of the Ministry of Education, we made presentations to 1,500 students, ages 13-17, in selected basic schools and all secondary schools in the Banjul region. We provided information to all students on the health effects of FGM and how they can become change agents in their own communities. Age-appropriate content included the health effects of FGM, legal issues, and child protection laws. Out of this school outreach, we building a youth-led movement to engage young people to become leaders in the campaign to end FGM and change agents in their communities.We also operate an Information Booth Campaign and our team of staff and volunteers travels to towns and villages in the regions and sets up these information booths in the heart of the community, to inform members of the public about the harmful effects of FGM.The mission has evolved to include other forms of gender-based violence and abuses of women's rights and to place FGM in the context of women's educational and economic. Beginning in 2017, Safe Hands is expanding into other countries in west Africa with high FGM prevalence.