The Global Media Campaign (GMC) to End FGM is partnering with star soccer athletes in Africa to help spread the anti-FGM message and normalize conversations around this harmful practice, which is still deeply embedded in the social practices of many communities in Africa and elsewhere. Director of GMC, Mano Manoharan, says:
“Footballers can influence young men to actually start having a discussion and can hit a demographic no other campaign can reach. If we don’t hit young men, who are going to become parents, at the right time and engage with them in their language, we’re not going to bring systemic change”… “The next step is discussing that at the dinner table with their parents. At what point do attitudes change? It’s really done within the small groups, family units and communities. So we’re hoping that this stimulates a change and a conversation. These footballers — they are the catalyst.”