STOP CUT PROJECT (FORCE)

FGM: Background: The mutilation of the female genitals is a despicable act committed on females, not only in Nigeria, but in several other countries; both African and Non- African. With no known benefits, this act further has a snowball effect on the self-esteem, health and the life of women. Although, in Nigeria, there’s a law called the VAPP Act that makes FGM a punishable act, it has not been implemented by all states and convictions via this act are few and far between. With this FGM being especially prevalent in Nigeria, with 1 out of every 10 mutilated women in the world being NIgerian, we needed to call attention to the menace that has long since gone unchecked. It is against this backdrop, that the agency chose to develop an awareness campaign which would aid in dissuading people from committing this act. Strategy: In partnership with hacey, the strategy guiding this campaign was to get people to know about the absurdity and existence of FGM in a way that would get the perpetrators to stop doing it and the bystanders to take an active stand against it . Creative Idea: The idea was to call out the similarity between FGM and another act which always hits close to home, Rape. The idea was born out of the insight that there are other ways to rob a girl child of innocence and life’s pleasures besides just rape; one of which is female genital mutilation. This was done to bring the act of FGM closer to people so that they can understand just how bad FGM is for women and how, like rape, it is an infringement of women’s right and thus, is punishable by law. Execution: We used a series of chilling, horror-themed visuals and stories to draw public attention to the gravity of FGM as compared to rape and child trafficking. Prints and videos showing female body parts forcefully being held down by male hands were created. With copies calling out the similarities between the act of Rape and FGM, people were urged to also be proactive in curbing the act by lobbying their lawmakers into implementing the VAPP act and to report any acts of FGM they see being committed.