ActionAid Gena Bossa Development Area (DA) and partners in the Southern Regional State rescued 22 girls from arranged female genital mutilation.
On a tip from Watch Group members, the party traveled to an area where the girl children, parents and all involved were preparing to undertake the circumcision.
AAE’s anti- FGM and violence efforts were intensified using the financial support of -UNIFEM/UN Trust Fund. The intervention tried to mobilize women to stand against HTPs, to capacitate in the justice sector in its effort to apply the laws against HTPs, and to buy the support and active agency of traditional and religious leaders.
There was also a preparation of food and drinks by the families as the event is usually celebrated as a ritual. Two circumcisers were getting ready for the mutilation. Police and the DA staff carried out a long consultation with the families and the children finally returned to their homes without undergoing the circumcision. Some of the families and the circumcisers were detained by the police for few days. No criminal charges were pursued against the practitioners or the parents due to the fact that the preparation was aborted early on.
