The Honourable Pam Parsons, Minister Responsible for Women and Gender Equality, has proclaimed February 6, 2022 as International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is an opportunity to honour women, girls, boys, men and gender diverse people, and everyone who is actively and courageously working towards ending this harmful practice.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is an issue in more than 90 countries on every continent except Antarctica. There are at least 200 million FGM survivors in the world, including an estimated 100,000 or more survivors in Canada. Unfortunately, 4.1 million girls are still at risk of mutilation each year, including girls in Canada.

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation is an opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate all national and international efforts, especially grassroots efforts, to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5, Target 5.3, which calls for the elimination of FGM and other harmful practices by 2030.

The protection of women and girls human rights and safety is of the utmost importance to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Violence of any kind against women and girls in our province, including female genital mutilation, is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

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“All women and girls have a right to live without fear of violence, mutilation, or oppression. This proclamation demonstrates the Provincial Government’s commitment to preventing violence against women and girls. Female genital mutilation has no place in our world, and we applaud organizations who are working to end this practice.”
Honourable Pam Parsons
Minister Responsible for Women and Gender Equality

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