On June 23rd, RTI’s Addressing Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting Training and Technical Assistance Project (AFTTAP) team organized the event Roundtable on Systems Change to Address FGM/C Perspectives from State and Municipal Coalitions. The roundtable featured state and municipal coalitions and working groups from across the United States that work to address FGM/C domestically. Sahiyo U.S. Executive Director Mariya Taher facilitated a panel discussion during the roundtable and featured coalition representatives came from Washington State, Connecticut, New York City, Minnesota, Greater Los Angeles, and Massachusetts. Panelists were able to provide insight into their initiatives, processes, and provide ideas on how they would like to see the prevention, support work, and advocacy surrounding FGC expand.
Some coalitions focused more on advancing legislation on FGC while others focused on raising awareness of FGM/C. Joanne Golden, a Sahiyo U.S. Advisory Board member and founding member of the Massachusettes Coalition, spoke about the coalition’s success in passing state legislation to address FGC in August 2020.
Preventing and responding to FGM/C requires effective collaboration across systems and this roundtable; overall, this event created a dialogue for U.S. based coalitions to discusses effective forms of collaboration for the future in the hopes of ending FGM/C in this country.