Celebrating International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (short film screening)
A SHORT FILM HOSTED BY WALTHAM FOREST WOMEN’S NETWORK (WFWN)
We are very excited to announce the release of our short film: ‘FGM/FGC: A Frank Discussion with Dawn, Julia and Hibo’.
Our esteemed guests for the film are: Comedian Dawn French: Founder of 'Orchid Project', Julia Lalla-Maharajh OBE; and our local Waltham Forest FGM activist and author of 'Cut', Hibo Wardere. Waltham Forest Women's Network are honoured to host this trio of inspiring women; our Vice Chair, Saiba Salam will also be part of this feature.
This film will be released on International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, 6th February 2021 at 17:30 (GMT) on our Youtube channel.
Please email any questions on FGM/FGC you would like to put to the panel by January 30th 2021 to info.wfwn@gmail.com.
ABOUT THE PANEL
(If you click on the poster, it will take you directly to our YouTube channel where our short film will be streamed.)
Dawn French from the telly? Yes that’s right. Best known for her role in the The Vicar of Dibley and for her comedy sketch show 'French and Saunders', Dawn is also an incredible supporter of the campaign against FGC.
Julia Lalla-Maharajh OBE is the founder of Orchid Project, a charity with a vision of a world free from female genital cutting. It supports community level change, sharing best practice and increased resources towards ending the practice. Julia founded Orchid Project after encountering the issue in Ethiopia where she was volunteering and learned that 75% of women and girls have been cut. In 2017, Julia and Hibo travelled to Canada to hold the first ever event in Canadian Parliament to successfully persuade the Canadian Government to resource the movement to end FGC.
Hibo Wardere is a Somali-born FGM campaigner who resides in Waltham Forest. As well as campaigning against FGM/FGC she is also an author and public speaker. Born in Somalia, she came to London fleeing Somali civil war in 1989 when she was just a teenager. She currently resides in Walthamstow, London where she works as a mediator and a regular FGM educator for the Borough of Waltham Forest and beyond. Her testimonials and campaigning work have made her one of Britain's most prominent campaigners against FGM. Hibo has appeared in numerous publications, including the Telegraph, BBC, Hello magazine, OK magazine and The Guardian. Hibo has courageously written about her own experiences of FGM in her book – ‘Cut’.
