Mona Eltahawy Instagram – Feb. 6 is International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
My country of birth Egypt has the greatest number of women and girls who have experienced FGM/C of any country in the world.
I vow that I will always fight to ensure that we, not patriarchy, own our bodies. Girls and women are forced to be cultural vectors; our bodies are the medium upon which culture is engraved–FGM/C is one of the earliest violations imprinted on the female body. And yet we are too often barred from authoring that culture that marks us.
Every day–not just this one day when we urge the world to remember yet another way that patriarchy hurts us–I will fight to ensure that we claim ownership of our bodies; no longer vectors, but authors of our liberation. And I honour the heroes of our liberation, such as these fellow African activists whose lived experience is vital.
It is our right to enjoy sex.
We have a right to pleasure.
We own our desire and we have a right to express it freely.
We must end FGM
Read essay: https://www.feministgiant.com/p/endfgm?utm_source=publication-search | Posted on 07/Feb/2025 00:02:48
