Domtila Chesang

“Girls are now at the centre of saving their families… It has become the only commodity apart from their livestock, because girls are not being extinct as livestock is. So the girls' existence in itself is becoming a threat because right now, it's becoming a solution to the communities”

“Climate change has really pushed people to the limit, beyond their limit, because… we continue to experience the worst impact of climate change, which is now forcing families to resort to the last solution to survive… We are pastoralists… So we entirely rely on livestock for survival… And now that the land has been degraded, now that there is no pasture, now that there's no water, it's becoming very, very scarce, and communities have been displaced”

“I got involved [in campaigning against FGM] after I went to high school because I wanted to protect more girls… By the time I was going to the university, I was already taking part in mentorships programs, and working with a group of women who had also decided to campaign against FGM… When I left university, I went straight to campaigning.”

“Apart from one of my younger sisters going through it, none of the other girls from my family went through it after myself. So I became the first girl in my village to say I'm not going to be cut”

“I'm telling you one of the reasons why FGM is still happening in some parts of the communities is because of the celebration. It is a huge ceremony…There are dances. There's singing. It's like a one- or two-week celebration. That is not at the moment, because now it is against the law The prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act 2011… Nobody knows about the actual cutting and the pain and, of course, the suffering that comes after that.”

“I grew up in a village where everybody, all the older members of my family, the female members, had undergone FGM”

“My project seek to address and eradicate it. Its abuse against women’s rights, over their bodies and feelings. We empower women and the society to understand that women are humans too therefore they deserve respect.”

“The networking between young women from different communities and countries is very powerful.”

“Rebelling against a practice that was being carried out by almost everyone then wasn’t easy. In a way I had to find way of influencing my friends to stand with me. This is how I slowly became a campaigner starting at a very early age. When I went to college my sister was cut and this is when I realized I had to do more to protect other girls from the same.”

“When I was 11, I witnessed my older cousin being cut. The pain and suffering that I saw during this period forced me to flee home and seek refuge in a boarding school. I knew there was no way I was going to wait and have my genitals hacked”

“By addressing the socio-cultural drivers, including peer pressure, stigma, marriage imperatives, and bride price incentives, this integrated strategy aims to break the cycle of FGM.”