Human suffering has a way of overwhelming us, often leaving us asking, “how can I make a difference?” But for some, unimaginable pain isn’t a barrier – it’s a call to action. 

In 2005, while lamenting the suffering of millions of women impacted by Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and forced marriages, CMS mission partner Ann-Marie Wilson asked God: “Who will help girls like this?” To her amazement, the answer came back as an audible voice: “You will.”

Two decades later, Ann-Marie is still answering that call. Through her international organisation, 28 Too Many, she has gathered the stories of over 3,000 FGM survivors and built a global movement dedicated to ending FGM worldwide and advocating for women’s reproductive health. 

We pause to celebrate her achievements and thank her for her long-term service as a CMS mission partner.

Here are some of the people and places that have shaped her world-wide fight.

The girls who launched a movement

Fatima: The catalyst

Ann-Marie’s fight began with an encounter that forced her face-to-face with unimaginable suffering. In 2005, she and her team found Fatima, a 10-year-old girl, alone and seven months pregnant following a rape by militia in the scrubland of West Darfur.

They rushed her to a clinic where a caesarean section saved her life. As Fatima recovered, Ann-Marie learned more about the devastating health complications that followed her FGM experience at age five. Fatima’s desperate circumstances echoed the biblical words, “for such a time as this,” from Esther 4:14. Her story was Ann-Marie’s Esther moment, serving as the launchpad for a mission to free girls from FGM and the forced marriages that often follow.

Hannah and Grace: changing a community’s mind

Just 10 and 12 years old, Hannah and Grace shifted an entire community’s view on FGM. 

When famine struck Kenya, their families relocated to a new settlement. The move allowed the girls to start attending school, where they learned about FGM practice’s illegality and severe health consequences.

The girls immediately planned to run away, seeking refuge with relatives. They bravely refused to return home until they were guaranteed safety from FGM. Their courage forced the community chiefs to meet, who guaranteed the girls would be heard. Hannah and Grace addressed the entire community, which, convinced by their testimony, decided then and there to never perform FGM again. No girl younger than them in their community has been cut since.

Mary: breaking the cycle

Mary’s life shows how devastating cycles of harmful practices can be stopped. As a teenager, her mother convinced her that FGM was a harmless procedure that would bring glory and respect. Mary eagerly awaited her turn to be cut, but her eagerness turned to terror. She spent a full month recovering.

Married at 19, Mary began to understand the full extent of the lies she’d been told when she required surgical intervention to safely deliver her first child. Eventually, her husband abandoned her and their three children. Through this ordeal, Mary came to understand that her value existed far beyond her relative worth to a man.

Now an anti-FGM activist, Mary helps run alternative rite of passage ceremonies, replacing the harmful practice with a celebration of womanhood.

Lydia: lasting educational impact

Anti-FGM efforts are often hindered by cultural taboos and a lack of open discussion about female sexuality. Recognising this knowledge gap, Lydia, a British teacher, volunteered her summer to help educate educators in Uganda.

While running safeguarding workshops in rural southwestern Uganda, Lydia made a startling discovery: only one in 20 teachers had any knowledge of FGM. Lydia trained them on how to recognise girls who had been subjected to the practice and prevent potential complications. A year later, she returned to find the teachers had successfully implemented improved school policies and safety measures. 

Her dedicated work was later scaled up into a nationwide programme promoting girls’ education and preventing female students from dropping out of school after puberty.

Global impact: from New York to Kenya 

Ann-Marie and the 28 Too Many team haven’t just changed individual lives; they’ve shifted global policy and fostered grassroots change across continents.

The UN: securing the Sustainable Development Goal

In 2012, Ann-Marie set her sights on a monumental task: ensuring FGM was included in the final document of a major gathering in New York at the full Commission on the Status of Women with over 10,000 attendees. Her team worked relentlessly: holding seminars, asking questions at key events, addressing world leaders and handing literature to dignitaries. After seven days of non-stop work, she got the result she wanted.

“Those three small letters FGM are now in the document, and therefore in the Sustainable Development Goals,” Ann-Marie says. “This is one of my greatest achievements.” 

Her work secured its place in Sustainable Development Goal 5.3: ‘Eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.’

West Africa: outreach and media

In 2015, the 28 Too Many team traveled across West Africa, delivering critical reports and findings. In Senegal, Ann-Marie delivered four talks a day, including a training session to 30 women in a remote village, translated live. The rapid pace continued in Gambia, where they recorded an interview with a newspaper. The next day, the entire story, featuring their work, was printed word-for-word on pages 2 and 3 of the national newspaper. In Mali, they successfully met with UNICEF, who agreed to host the first NGO gathering in the region, providing a critical platform for stagnant anti-FGM efforts.

Kenya: teaching healthcare through cricket 

In a unique partnership opportunity, 28 Too Many collaborated with Cricket Without Boundaries (CWB) in the Central Maasai area of Kenya. CWB uses cricket coaching to deliver vital health messages, and Ann-Marie was invited to deliver FGM training to both the CWB team and the local communities.

Upon arrival, seeking permission from the stern-looking Elders was the critical first step – a refusal meant being sent home. After explaining their mission, Ann-Marie paused and asked, “I don’t even know if I have permission to speak of FGM and sexual matters in public or in mixed company.”

The Chief immediately stomped his stick on the ground and declared with a single, powerful word: “You have permission!”

With clearance secured, they delivered FGM awareness sessions to over 3,000 people across schools and community forums. They trained 25 local adults – including teachers, youth workers, and health professionals – to become ongoing FGM and cricket coaches. 

The project culminated in a celebratory day led by the Maasai Cricket Warriors, where the community publicly committed to ending FGM and pledged to carry this anti-FGM message into neighbouring villages, ensuring the movement was self-sustaining.

Ann-Marie Wilson’s journey is a powerful testament to how a single person can spark profound global change. Her achievements, the lasting change she and her team have impacted across the world, didn’t come from a place of status, power or genius, just the simple, radical act of daring to ask, “Who will help?”

It shows that when you align yourself with God’s mission, anything is possible.

If you want to follow Ann-Marie’s work, you can sign up to her updates.

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Turkey: fighting female genital mutilation (FGM)

Mission partner Ann-Marie Wilson visited Turkey in October as part of her work of researching the prevalence of, and putting a stop to, FGM. Ann-Marie’s research uncovered a higher-than-expected prevalence of FGM in Turkey due to a high population of diaspora from Sudan, Somalia and other Middle Eastern/Asian countries. Please pray for Ann-Marie and the team as they prepare a report on the country and for the report to make it clear to people in power that FGM needs to be stopped.

The post Turkey: fighting female genital mutilation (FGM) appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

Ground-breaking work to end the global practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been highlighted in King Charles’s first New Year Honours List as campaigner, humanitarian aid-worker and Church Mission Society mission partner, Dr Ann-Marie Wilson, received an MBE.

The citation reads that Ann-Marie is being recognised “for services to the prevention of Violence Against Women and Girls”.

In 2010 Ann-Marie founded the charity 28 Too Many and set out to end FGM in the 28 African countries where the practice of FGM is prevalent. By building on more than 3,000 FGM survivors’ stories, while collating and interpreting research data for use with international bodies, and mobilising grassroots organisations with advocacy tools, Dr Wilson has helped secure widespread change. She is a global expert FGM advisor to the United Nations, the World Bank and the Metropolitan Police, among others.

Ann-Marie first became aware of the prevalence of the practice when working in Sudan in 2003 with aid agency Medair. In 2020, following 28 Too Many’s legal report Sudan: The Law and FGM, FGM was outlawed in Sudan and is now punishable with a three-year prison term for perpetrators. In a country where an estimated 87 per cent of girls and women between 15 and 49 years have undergone FGM, Ann-Marie’s campaigning has impacted the lives of millions of women and young girls.

Debbie James, Church Mission Society’s Deputy CEO, said: “What wonderful news for Ann-Marie! She has shown remarkable dedication to the cause of anti-FGM campaigning. Her faithful service has highlighted a huge injustice and impacted the lives of thousands of women and girls.”

The Bishop of Truro, Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen, a former executive leader of Church Mission Society where Ann-Marie is a mission partner, commented: “Ann-Marie is truly inspirational. In the face of significant challenges she has been an indefatigable campaigner, faithfully pursuing God’s call to champion the rights and dignity of some of the world’s most vulnerable women. I’m in awe of all she’s done and this honour is a fitting and hugely well-deserved recognition.”

Her efforts combatting FGM have won wide acclaim, including a British Citizen Award 2015 and Good Housekeeping Magazine’s Heroine of 2016. Her Ogilvy and Mather FGM publicity campaign won the prestigious Global Advertiser of the Year, beating multi-million dollar brands like Nike and Amazon. Ann-Marie had previously trained in community midwifery in northern Pakistan, fistula rehabilitation in northern Nigeria and worked as a psychologist at a UN camp for displaced Somalis on the northern Kenyan border.

By 2022, 28 Too Many’s 10th anniversary, the charity had achieved Ann-Marie’s founding aim of seeing a 10 per cent reduction in the practice of FGM across 10 countries in 10 years. 28 Too Many has now published over 120 research reports on the law against FGM, raising a call for action from many European governments. 

In 2015 Ann-Marie was diagnosed with incurable non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL). The story of her charity’s work is published in her book, Overcoming – My Fight Against FGM, published by SPCK in 2021. 

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The post CMS partner’s fight to end FGM recognised in New Year Honours List appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

28 Too Many, the charity founded by CMS mission partner Ann-Marie Wilson, is celebrating 10 years of working to eradicate female genital mutilation (FGM).

Registered as a charity in 2012, 28 Too Many has compiled detailed country profiles for each of the 28 African countries where FGM is practised. Ann-Marie explained: “28 Too Many’s reports are used by DFID, the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office, as well as NGOs around the world.”

It is estimated that every year three million women continue to be at risk from FGM in countries where the practice is still considered the cultural norm. In 2020 Sudan introduced legislation outlawing the practice of FGM, a first step on the long road to societal change.

Ann-Marie remains hopeful: “Thank you to all the people who have supported us in this vision over the last 10 years. There is still a long way to go but together we can end FGM.”

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The post A decade of difference: anti-FGM charity marks a milestone appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

28 Too Many, a UK based research charity set up to campaign against the continuing practice of Female Genital Mutilation [FGM] is running a series of workshops in an effort to halt the resurgence of FGM which has occurred worldwide, including the UK, during the coronavirus pandemic.

The online workshops, which are mainly taking place in African communities where the FGM ‘cutting’ season is currently underway, are focusing on advocacy and social media communications in order to support local champions and address the scaling back of ‘on-the-ground’ projects caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

A report published by the Orchid Project* stated that levels of FGM are increasing following the global spread of Covid-19. The lack of health services, on-the-ground support services for girls most at risk, economic hardship and restricted access for community based groups carrying out FGM mitigation programmes have all contributed to the increases in FGM being reported. As a result, girls and young women are being forced to flee their homes or face being ‘cut’ and married off in exchange for a desperately needed dowry.

Dr Ann-Marie Wilson, the founder and executive director of 28 Too Many and a Church Mission Society mission partner, said: “At the start of 2020 many countries were reporting their lowest levels of FGM since records began in 2004 yet with the escalation of Covid-19, thousands of girls and young women are at risk of being ‘cut’ and sold into marriage or forced to work in the sex industry.”

Across Africa, from Kenya to Senegal, and Nigeria to Sierra Leone, multiple factors emanating from the coronavirus crisis have combined to cause charities and NGOs concern. Ann-Marie explains: “Restrictions on travel, reductions in funding for FGM programmes and the fear of contracting the disease, as well as the closure of the school year for pupils across Africa, has meant many girls are now isolated, under the radar and exposed to the dangers of FGM.”

Since Dr Wilson set up 28 Too Many in 2010, the organisation has compiled detailed country profiles for every country in Africa where FGM was practised. Ann-Marie commented, “Over time we’ve built a reputation and we are a bit like the ‘Google’ of FGM. 28 Too Many’s reports are used by DFID, the Metropolitan Police, the Home Office and UNICEF, as well as NGOs and UN teams around the world.”

The reality of the situation is clear to Dr Wilson. She warned: “We will continue to work within the health and education sector, as well as partnering with law enforcement agencies and governments both in the UK and around the world. Yet the gains of the last 10 years are now being threatened and the lives and wellbeing of tens of thousands of girls and young women is in the balance.”

Dr Wilson continued, “2020 presented challenges few people could have envisaged and now as the world enters a new year, it more important than ever, that governments, NGOs and agencies like 28 Too Many work together. Unless we integrate our strategies for fighting Covid-19 with FGM elimination programmes, decades of hard work highlighting and legislating against the practice of FGM are at risk.”

* “Impacts of Covid-19 on female genital cutting”, Report issued by Orchid Project September 2020

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The post Covid-19 FGM upsurge must be tackled, says mission partner appeared first on Church Mission Society (CMS).

It is estimated that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone the ritual of female genital mutilation (FGM), and current trends indicate that each year, approximately three million girls under the age of 15 are added to these statistics.

By Ann-Marie Wilson, a mission partner who founded the Anti-FGM charity 28 Too Many

Some facts: FGM is a traditional cultural practice involving the cutting or removal of the external female genitals. It results in pain and emotional and physical health problems, often life-long. Most FGM takes place in 28 African countries and in some communities in the Middle East and Asia. As a result of immigration and refugee movements, FGM can also be found in other countries including most European countries, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Since 2004 I have worked for eight overseas relief, rehabilitation or development agencies in 18 countries. In 2005, working in West Darfur with Medair, I met a girl who had had FGM at the age of five, who was then raped and orphaned at 10 during a military attack on her village, and gave birth to a child conceived from the rape. I cried out to God to ask who would look after girls like her. In response I heard him say, “You will.” That was all I needed!

I came home, told my church, closed my business and started to undertake research and training into what was needed in the FGM sector, so as not to duplicate existing work. I founded 28 Too Many in 2010. I realised that there was a lack of support and practical information for those trying to end FGM, so we provide the knowledge, tools, best practice models and support networks to enable anti-FGM campaigners and organisations working with communities to bring about sustainable change.

Over the past few decades, there has been enormous momentum within the international development community towards ending FGM. This has translated into a large number of laws, policies, campaigns and programmes at international, national and local levels, yet results remain mixed. While there is evidence that the most extreme types of FGM are slowly declining in prevalence, the overall rate of decline does not always reflect the huge amounts of money, time and energy invested.

Learn

It is often felt by many FGM-practising communities that local priorities are ignored by visiting development “experts” and that their cultures and traditions are framed as problems to be solved. At the same time, for women and girls who are at risk or have experienced FGM and wish to end the practice, often the only perceived solution is to fight against their loved ones and risk losing their place in the community.

In contrast, 28 Too Many believes that the most effective approach to reducing FGM lies in culturally sensitive, community-based programmes encouraging changes to social norms.

What are social norms?

Social norms flow from our beliefs about what others do and about what others think we should do. There is an increasing consensus that FGM is often a social norm – the practice continues because “everyone does it”, or people believe that everyone does it. Individuals practise it because they have never questioned behaving otherwise, they receive social benefits from conforming to the norm or they fear social sanctions from others for deviating from the norm.

The culture of FGM-practising communities

The relevance of culture to FGM is always challenging in our work. We must be aware that in most FGM-practising contexts there are strong collectivist values which encourage conformity to social norms, including those that support FGM.

In many African societies, the role of elders is also key. They transmit knowledge to the younger generation, play a key leadership role and ensure the social cohesion and survival of their family and community. The presence and role of elders is particularly felt when people live in extended family settings with several generations living close together.

Another characteristic we must appreciate in FGM-practising societies is gender specificity in the activities of different family members. Here, the roles of men and women are generally quite distinct. Cultural norms dictate which activities males carry out and which ones are reserved for females. So, a key starting point for working with communities on FGM, and women’s and children’s health generally, is to understand how they are organised with respect to gendered roles.

How can we change social norms?

At 28 Too Many we recognise that many of the popular FGM-abandonment strategies have limited effectiveness unless they are accompanied by community-wide processes of dialogue and consensus-building.

While many strategies try to bring about changes in individual behaviour, this fails to take into account the influence of social structures and cultural values on people’s beliefs and actions, especially in contexts with collectivist values. Evidence shows that, rather than focusing on individual behaviour change, it is more effective for programmes to focus on promoting changes in social norms, which in turn will influence individual behaviour.

To successfully shift social norms and end FGM we first need to identify the characteristics of FGM: which practising communities to focus on, why they practise FGM, at what age girls are cut and what type of FGM is performed. We even need to consider what FGM is called in that community. (There are many different terms – we use the local term when working in a community and FGM when working internationally.)

We need to understand the decision-making processes (who decides that a girl will be cut, and when?) and the power dynamics. Recognising who exercises authority and power within a community, and whether or not that authority supports the desired change, is essential.

In our work on social norms and FGM we always try to identify the influencers and decision makers: these are most commonly the religious or traditional leaders, elders (such as grandmothers and chiefs) or parents. It is then essential to catalyse community dialogue and collaborative problem-solving with these decision-makers and influencers and support those stakeholders who have the most cultural authority to shape, and ultimately end, the practice of FGM in their community.

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