Female genital mutilation is a brutal practice that affects millions of girls worldwide and it’s affecting a growing number in European nations. Currently, over a hundred thousand girls are at risk in countries like Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and the UK. To complicate matters, FGM is a difficult issue to directly address. The very nature of the subject is uncomfortable to talk about, which only makes it easier to ignore. Furthermore, many people in Europe prefer to think of FGM as something that happens in impoverished and far away places. Thinking this way is easier than confronting the fact that this horrific practice actually happens close to home.

To change the fate of girls in Europe and all over the world, the issue must be brought out into the open. Rather than shying away from the horror of FGM, this campaign confronts it. It faithfully represents Type 3 FGM in a way that’s rarely presented in mainstream media.

While laws exist to prevent FGM in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, they are rarely enforced. For instance, no one has ever been successfully prosecuted under the laws in the UK even though over 50,000 girls are at risk. This campaign aims to change the way people think of FGM and provoke them to see it as an issue they need to take action against right here at home by supporting 28 Too Many.

Many anti-FGM organisations address the need to help girls at risk in African nations, but London-based organisation 28 Too Many also works to help girls much closer to home. This campaign brought this aspect of FGM to the forefront of the discussion, and raised 28 Too Many’s profile within the FGM sector. What’s more, the campaign encouraged text-in donations for the organisation, helping them continue their work to end FGM everywhere.

Most people think of the UK and Europe as open-minded places. In this region, women and girls are presented in many different lights and take on many different roles. However, when it comes to certain subjects, taboos remain intact. Female genital mutilation is rarely represented in the mainstream media. This is partly because the subject makes many people uncomfortable but also because many people believe it’s an issue that only affects people in African nations. Our campaign breaks down both of these barriers by bringing FGM out into the open and presenting it in a way that makes the practice relevant and emotional for European audiences.

In this campaign for London-based organisation 28 Too Many, the flags of six European nations were mutilated and sewn back together again. The flags create an emotional connection with viewers, at the same time alarming them with the brutality with which the flags were treated. Just like the victims of FGM, these iconic symbols of freedom and liberty are violated and degraded, instantly provoking Europeans to act against such senseless cruelty.

By representing FGM in this way, our campaign treats it as something that people can discuss openly. It strives to bring the practice out of the shadows and show it for what it really is: a barbaric ritual that we all must take action to end by supporting 28 Too Many.