Stop the circumcision of girls

Three million girls. A lot, right? In the Netherlands, we only have 875,643 under the age of ten. But worldwide, three million girls are at risk of being circumcised every year. And the circumcision of a girl or a woman is a mutilation, so horrific that we cannot show it.

Do you know what the worst part is? One in four Dutch people doesn't even know what female circumcision entails.

In female circumcision, the clitoris is completely cut off and sometimes (part of) the labia as well. There is no medical reason for this whatsoever. Female circumcision usually happens without anesthesia by a woman who is paid for it with a razor blade, and in most cases, the vagina is also sewn shut. Yes, that leaves you speechless.

In addition to the horrific pain that a girl experiences during circumcision, the mutilation causes so much more. Trauma, psychological issues, physical discomfort, enormous health risks, infertility, and sometimes even death. It has nothing to do with religion or culture, but with tradition and how people view female sexuality. Uncircumcised girls are considered dirty, promiscuous, and uncontrollable; they wouldn't be able to find a man, it would help them become a woman...

200 million women worldwide have been circumcised. Another 3 million girls are at risk of being circumcised every year. That's 8,000 a day. We are living in the year 2020.

Plan International is launching the campaign ‘I won't close my eyes to female circumcision’ in which they show a reaction video. I put on my headphones while watching the video. Actually, just by the accompanying words ‘shocking sound,’ I was apprehensive about what was coming. The sound cuts straight through your soul, and hearing that girl makes you feel nauseous. From disbelief, from anger, from sadness. And I haven't even seen for a second what happened. The reactions of Moïse and Kim say it all.

This. Must. Stop.

In collaboration with Plan Netherlands