The practice of female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) harms the physical, psychological, and reproductive and sexual health of women and is a violation of women’s fundamental human rights. About 100 to 140 million girls and young women have experienced FGM/C, and an additional three million are at risk each year. This course will provide learners with an overview of FGM/C and examples of interventions that have worked – as well as those that have not worked – to encourage the abandonment of the practice.

At the end of this course learners will be able to:

• Define female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), describe the different types, and understand the affected population and the reasons for the practice
• Understand the global prevalence of FGM/C
• Understand the socio-economic factors contributing to the prevalence rates
• Identify the immediate and long-term health complications from FGM/C
• Identify human rights legal instruments that can be used in advocacy efforts to eliminate FGM/C practice
• Learn from successful country-led initiatives and case studies about the critical programmatic elements that encourage abandonment of FGM/C

This course is estimated to take around 1.5 hours to complete.