Safe Hands for Girls (SHFG) is nonprofit organization aimed at ending the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in one generation. 

The harmful effects of FGM are experienced through out womanhood. FGM survivors often experience painful intercourse and excruciating labor. One of the biggest challenges faced by FGM survivors is having trained physicians who can provide tailored care to mitigate the effects of FGM during childbirth. Join us to have more trained physicians who can recognize the signs of FGM and use proactive care to prevent complication like excessive bleeding, fistulas and low birth weight babies.  

Since its inception in 2013, Safe Hands for Girls has focused on youth empowerment and bringing voices of the most unheard populations to the forefront.

Our community involvement approach has energized a movement in The Gambia and garnered support of the politicians, religious leaders and the entire communities with a vigor that culminated into the first law banning FGM in the Gambia in 2015.

In spite of anti FGM laws in the Gambia, US and other nations around the world, the challenge still remains to translate these laws into action. Safe Hands has taken on many initiatives including the first National Islamic Conference in the Gambia. In partnership with other youth networks, we convened a panel of religious leaders, steering up conversations, which resulted into a declaration of Fatwas to dispel the myth that FGM is a religious obligation. This unprecedented commitment by religious leaders and local communities to end this practice is promising to women and girls around the world.

To keep this momentum alive, we would like to extend our activities to local communities in the US and in the Gambia. 

Our programs such as Peer educator training, school outreach and information booths have disseminated information beyond local media outreach. These outreach activities and peer training components has not only prevented FGM in these communities but also keeps young girls in school both in the Gambia and in the US.

In the US, we have extended our programs to not just target women and girls, but also frontline professionals. We train healthcare providers about the needs of the women and girls that they serve. They are trained about subtle and obvious indicators for at risk girls and survivors of FGM. We seek to strengthen this program to reach more frontline professionals in other metropolitan areas, which are more concentrated with migrant families.

Jaha's Story

I was subjected to the brutal practice of female genital mutilation at a week of age and forced marriage at the age of fifteen, a fate similar to my siblings and girls in my community. Following my forced marriage in New York city, I enrolled myself in high school and ultimately college.

I came to realize that there were many others like me who had no support to overcome the barriers that I faced. 

Today, 6000 girls undergo FGM everyday worldwide and another 40,000 are subjected to child marriage daily. I made it my mission to protect girls from these practices that I was exposed to.

In 2013, I founded Safe Hands for Girls to give voices to young women like myself you have been in the margins and not centered in discussions around human rights, women empowerment, gender equality and education. I commenced my advocacy in the US with a petition on change.org, which garnered over 200,000 signatures, urging the Obama administration to conduct a prevalence study on FGM in the US.

Professionally Trained Healthcare Professionals are better able to work with survivors of FGM

Training of frontline professionals minimizes the trauma experienced by young women during childbirth.

Trained frontline professionals are equipped to anticipate and recognize complications that may occur during childbirth, which improves birth outcomes for FGM survivors.

Women are more at ease if their healthcare provider seems more versed about their unique conditions and less likely to withhold information that's vital. This improves overall patient -doctor communication, which is proven to improve medical care.

Previously Safe Hands For Girls has trained physicians and healthcare staff major hospitals in Georgia. 

This course is geared towards equipping frontline staff with the knowledge and skills to respond to FGM.  The training aims to equip professionals to confidently respond to FGM and enables them to develop action plans on FGM that are geared towards their specific setting.

• Training medical staff to identify FGM survivors without further traumatizing them.

• Working with healthcare providers to improve prenatal care and overall obstetrics care for FGM survivors.

• Work with mothers so they understand that they have options after the birth of the child regarding undoing the mutilation.  

• If the child is a daughter, provide education and support so that the baby girl is not put at risk for FGM.  

Together, we can train more healthcare providers.

How YOU can Help FGM Survivors today

Donate to our campaign and help us train more professionals! 

Help spread the word to #EndFGM by sharing this campaign with as many people as you can - the more people understand our cause, the better the chances so many women have of healing.