Population Council Media Center 

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
Digital Media Kit

All over my thighs were marks from the ropes, dotted with patches from the lice wounds. Now I was to look after myself, to ensure that everything remained intact until the day I married. 

—From "The Cut" by Maryam Sheikh Abdi (full text)

• 6 February 2007 is the fourth annual
  International Day of Zero Tolerance
  for Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C).
• FGC is the cutting, removal, and sometimes
  sewing of external female genitalia for cultural or other nontherapeutic reasons.
• Population Council research aims  to
  accelerate the abandonment of FGM/C.
• FGM/C is a harmful practice that violates international standards for children's and women’s rights and often leads to serious health problems.

New!

Just the Facts
A brief overview of information and statistics from Council studies and research by colleague organizations. (full text)

CD-ROM
This English/French electronic library includes study findings and documents efforts to strengthen research methods, build the capacity of organizations to implement evidence-based interventions, and inform policies and programs in several contexts. To order a free copy of "Female genital mutilation/cutting: Publications on research in FGM/C" [Mutilations génitales féminines/excision: Publications sur la recherche concernant l'excision], please contact frontiers@pcdc.org.

Symposium
Population Council researchers Maryam Sheikh Abdi, Nafissatou J. Diop, and John Townsend  will share results and experiences during a day-long seminar sponsored by the USAID Bureau for Global Health and the Population Reference Bureau that will be held on the International Day of Zero Tolerance. 

INTACT Network
A Council initiative, the International Network to Analyze, Communicate and Transform the Campaign Against Female Genital Cutting, Female Genital Mutilation, Female Circumcision (INTACT) is an international group of scholars, activists, and researchers. Recent outreach efforts include:

• A monthly e-newsletter with recent announcements, resources, and news.
• A newly revised, user-friendly Web site. (offsite link)

• Bedaya, a quarterly Arabic newsletter to disseminate news, research results, and best practices.

For information about INTACT, please contact Ola El Soueni info@intact-network.net.