Get Involved - Savera UK Youth #EndFGM Exhibition

What is Savera UK Youth?

Savera UK Youth are group of young people aged 12 – 25 who are passionate about raising awareness amongst their peers about harmful practices. The Savera UK Youth projects will empower young people and inspire them to lead and advocate for the work that Savera UK does allowing them to develop and gain skills. The group have already led their own youth conference, produced branding for Savera UK Youth with Nonconform as well as taking part in the Savera UK #imspeakingout campaign, created a hard hitting film about forced marriage, taken part in projects with other organisations such as FACT and established a Youth Advisory Board.

What is the Savera UK Youth Exhibition?

Savera UK worked with a group of young people for the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM (6th February) to develop an exhibition that was successfully launched at the National FGM Centre conference in London. Savera UK Youth Advisory Board would like to expand on this exhibition as part of this years’ UK Parliament Week (2nd – 8th November) which engages people from across the UK with their UK Parliament and explores what it means to them and empowers them to get involved.

They want to use the exhibition to encourage young people regardless of their background or gender to speak out about this issue and to educate them on the practice. The exhibit will include narrative photography and poetry from those who take part. There will also be a performance, key speakers and a Q&A as part of the presentation of the exhibition.

What is #EndFGM?

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is any procedure involving partial or total removal of the external female genitals or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15 but women may still undergo FGM.

It is a practice that is embedded in cultural traditions across the world but it is recognised as a violation of human rights, is banned by the UN, and is illegal in 30 countries, including the UK. But 140 million women and girls around the world are living with the consequences of being cut and a further 3 million girls are at risk of being cut each year.

There are many effects of this practice, both short and long term and Savera UK works with those who have suffered or may be at risk of this practice with whatever support they may need. Savera UK are working to speak out about this “hidden” practice and educate professionals, affected communities and young people to show that it is okay to stand up and fight the cultural traditions that are harmful. Culture is beautiful and should be celebrated so we should all work to “Preserve the Best in Culture and Leave Harm Behind”.

Why should I get involved?

Despite what you might think, this horrific practice does happen here and we need to talk about these issues and raise awareness in order to help prevent women and girls from being affected by this in the future as they don’t always have the voice to be able to stand up and speak out themselves. This project will not only educate you on the subject of FGM and other harmful practices, but allow you to gain valuable skills in teamwork, organisation, photography, writing, public speaking and more. It’s also a great opportunity for you to meet other young activists who want to make a difference and have a platform at which to raise important issues of young people today.

I want to get involved, where do I sign up?

The exhibition will be developed through a series of sessions on the lead up to the main event which will take place on Tuesday 5th November 2019 (venue to be confirmed). The sessions will be facilitated by Savera UK staff, professional photographer Andrew ‘AB’ Abrahamson and esteemed artist and performer Joanne Tremarco. Those who are attending need to commit to attending all 5 of the following sessions (you can choose to work on both photography and poetry or either of them if preferred.):

Session 1 (Introduction): Saturday 14th September 10am – 2pm
Session 2: Wednesday 18th September 5pm – 8pm
Session 3: Wednesday 25th September 5pm – 8pm
Session 4: Wednesday 2nd October 5pm – 8pm
Session 5: Wednesday 9th October 5pm – 8pm

(Sessions will be held in Merseyside, venue will be given upon expression of interest).

Food will be provided at all sessions so student dietary requirements need to be submitted to me before attendance. Further sessions may be scheduled after these dates if the facilitators feel like they are necessary.

We would also want you, your family and school to attend the exhibition on 6th November. Consent forms and permission slips can be supplied.

Due to the sensitivity of the topic that we are discussing during this project, it is important to highlight that we will be going into detail about the female body, what FGM is, statistics, the law and everlasting impacts it has on the survivors whilst keeping the topic culturally sensitive. Savera UK staff will always be on-hand whilst discussing these sensitive issues and will be able to support.

If you would like to get involved then please click here to contact us by 12th September 2019 to express your interest where you will be given further details.