FGM/C Network called the midwives! And the AOM answered

February 4, 2020

International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation

The Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) was approached by the End FGM/C Canada Network to support communities who have lived experienced with, and are working to end, female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C).

In November 2019, the AOM Board of Directors voted to join the network, and today we are launching the first phase of this work in honour of International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on February 6.

Midwives in Canada serve families and communities with lived experience of female genital mutilation and cutting. FGM/C Network Canada and the AOM are united in our shared values of the importance of bodily integrity and autonomy, consent and confronting gender-based violence.

Take a look at these events and activities taking place across Canada to raise awareness about the issue. And check out AOM President-Elect Jasmin Tescon’s public statement for the Network’s #MyIssueTooCanada campaign in honour of this day:

About the End FGM/C Canada Network

The FGM/C Network Canada is a non-partisan group of individuals and organizations working to end FGM/C in Canada and abroad. They focus on urging government to acknowledge FGM/C as a critical issue in need of a national action plan to support survivors and to protect girls at risk in Canada. In addition, they work to encourage the Canadian government to take a leadership role internationally and to focus more development aid on human rights approaches to ending FGM/C worldwide. 

Our commitment to ending FGM/C

The Association of Ontario Midwives’ goal is to:

  • Support communities with lived experience and amplify the voices of organizations leading this work in Canada, including FGM/C Network Canada
  • Publicly acknowledge that midwives provide care to families and communities with lived experience of FGM/C in Canada
  • Leverage the AOM’s social power to draw awareness to FGM/C and the critical need for trauma-informed reproductive health-care and a national action plan to support survivors
  • Contribute to clinical knowledge production on care for clients experiencing gender-based violence including, but not limited to, FGM/C

If you are a midwife who has experience providing care to FGM/C survivors and/or belong to a community with FGM/C lived experience, and would like to be involved informing AOM's work, please contact Leanne Horvath.