FGM – female genital mutilation

In 2015, ARCHEMED launched the first project against female genital mutilation, ‘Strengthen the position of women in Eritrea — fight against female genital mutilation’, financed by the European Union’s EIDHR programme (European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights). Since then, the project has been continuously implemented with at least two missions per year until the corona break and the death of the Eritrean project partner in 2023.
Genital mutilation is a serious, extremely violent intervention in a child’s body that causes severe physical and psychological damage. Many international organisations classify circumcision as a violation of the human right to physical integrity.

Although female genital mutilation has been banned in Eritrea since April 2007, it is still practised, particularly in rural areas. There, ARCHEMED raises awareness among Eritrean women and men on the ground of the health and social risks and consequences of FGM. The aim is to reduce the occurrence and prevalence of genital mutilation through educational work, thus avoiding acute complications and long-term consequences for women and their families. Knowledge of the legal situation empowers Eritrean women in their rights and promotes gender equality.

In the workshops that are held, all women and men in the project villages are particularly sensitised by the film ‘Behind the curtains of agony’, because real circumcisions of girls are shown in this film. In our experience, this film causes deep consternation, especially among men, because the topic is taboo for them and they are confronted with the brutality of circumcision for the first time.

Part of our comprehensive educational work is also to include the traditional circumcisers, for whom this work represents a source of income. In addition to educating and training the circumcisers, it is important to us to open up alternative employment opportunities for them.

Since the death of our Eritrean project coordinator Worku Zerai in 2023, the ARCHEMED programme against the circumcision of Eritrean girls has been suspended. We are currently working on a reorientation of the measures.