Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development

British charity

The Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development (FORWARD) is a British NGO, founded in 1983 by Efua Dorkenoo, that supports women who have experienced female genital mutilation (FGM) and tries to eliminate the practice.^[1]^[2]

History

FORWARD evolved from the Women's Action Group for Female Excision and Infibulation (WAGFEI), which comprised UK-based women concerned about FGM. Efua Dorkenoo coordinated the group between 1981 and 1983 under the auspices of the Minority Rights Group (MRG), and travelled to gather facts about FGM from various countries in Africa to compile into an MRG report on the practice.^[3]

The organization runs several programmes in the UK and in East and West Africa.^[4] According to FORWARD, there are around 100,000 women in the UK who have experienced FGM.^[5] The Executive Director is Naana Otoo-Oyortey.

Notes

^ "Efua Dorkenoo" Archived March 4, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, Equality Now.
^ "About Us", FORWARD.
^ "Tribute to Efua Dorkenoo OBE – Founder of FORWARD" Archived 2 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, 21 October 2014.
^ "About us", FORWARD; accessed 11 September 2011.
^ Bryony Gordon, "Making trouble in the name of mutilated women", The Daily Telegraph, 31 October 2005.

External links

FORWARD, The Foundation for Women's Health, Research and Development, accessed 11 September 2011.
"Hospitals and Clinics in the UK offering Specialist FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) Services" Archived 28 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine, FORWARD, accessed 11 September 2011.
"'Harmful' tradition continues in Britain", BBC News, 22 November 2000.
'UK's FGM safeguarding policies undermining welfare, study warns', The Guardian, 4 February 2021.

Female genital mutilation

Health issues

Clitoridectomy
Dysmenorrhea
Dyspareunia
Gishiri cutting
Husband stitch
Infibulation
Keloid scars
Pelvic inflammatory disease
Rectovaginal fistula
Vesicovaginal fistula

By country

Writers/groups

Early writers and activists	Raqiya Haji Dualeh Abdalla Janice Boddy Mary Daly Efua Dorkenoo Asma El Dareer Benoîte Groult Rose Oldfield Hayes Fran Hosken Edna Adan Ismail Nawal El Saadawi Lilian Passmore Sanderson Marion Scott Stevenson Hulda Stumpf Nahid Toubia Amina Warsame
Others	Fuambai Ahmadu Ayaan Hirsi Ali Waris Dirie Ellen Gruenbaum Asha Ismail Gerry Mackie Molly Melching Layli Miller-Muro Comfort Momoh Alice Walker
Groups	Babiker Bedri Scientific Association for Women's Studies Equality Now FORWARD Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children RAINBO Tostan Tahirih Justice Center Zero Tolerance Day

Media

Books	Woman at Point Zero (1975) Woman, Why Do You Weep? (1982) Possessing the Secret of Joy (1992) Desert Flower (1998)
Films	Moolaadé (2004) Desert Flower (2009) My Body My Rules (2015)