How to end female genital cutting in our lifetime
Businesswoman Julia Lalla-Maharajh is using the power of education to end female genital mutilation.
When she volunteered in Ethiopia, businesswoman Julia Lalla-Maharajh was ready to encounter poverty, HIV and AIDS, and malnutrition. But nobody told her that 75% of women in Ethiopia had undergone female genital mutilation, or that the average age for the procedure was under five years old.
She made a vow to herself that she would do whatever she could to end female genital mutilation. Back in London, she entered a competition to present at the World Economic Forum in Davos. She won. A year later, she went to Senegal, where she found the answer to her biggest question: how could any parent hurt their daughter in this way?
In order to exercise human rights, people need education. They need to realise they have a right to health and a right to live without pain.
Social norms have to shift collectively. Watch this TEDxLBS talk to see how Julia is using the power of education to end female genital mutilation.
These films were created as part of TEDx London Business School. Ideas worth spreading, from the LBS community.
