You give birth well you're then cut open enough to have sex at the age. Either you're about to be married and each time. You give birth you're cut again and resewn 200 million women are living with the devastating impacts in 45 countries around the world so here. I was walking around London asking my to your questions and I spent a year volunteering and I sort of got to the end of my tether and I was thinking shall. I go and help build Crossrail too and something happened a friend sent. Me a link to a competition on YouTube.
I entered it and I ended up being shortlisted. I was competing against. One guy who had a million followers on Twitter. I had 63 but I thought. You know what I'm gonna go for it so against. All odds I went for it and I managed to win. This competition the prize was with three days notice to go to the World Economic Forum at Davos and present on a stage and a number of voices said to me Julia. You can't talk about vaginas at the World Economic Forum but it turns out. I could and it was. One of my biggest learnings is you don't shifter to boo by being quiet about it my other learning was. That instead of running away from.
I pursued world leaders down corridors actually. They wanted to know. They wanted to know how can. We help what can. We do the other incredible thing that happened in Davos was. Someone said to me you must go to Senegal so a year later. I went to Senegal and guess. What I got answers to those two questions why does female genital cutting happen well put very simply it's a social norm. Now a social norm is again simplistically. Something I will do. Because I think. You as my peer group expected of me it's actually a social expectation and the power of that is extraordinary so. I will act because.
I think that where's the stranger. I was tangoing with. That lunchtime there. You are so imagine we're cousins. I will act because. I think the stranger whose name. I forgot and I'm so sorry expects off. That I will undertake. This practice in real life. I think my cousin is actually here there. She has just flown in from the US hello and so. I will do something because. I think my cousins expect. We may never have shared a conversation about female genital cutting but the expectation is so strong. That it holds. It in place. I want to embed. It a little bit further by asking a question of you all. Because we all have social norms and here's one we practice in London so who in the room today has had to consider removing their armpit hair little look around okay so we've got not as. Many as I thought but we've got a gendered response there right.
Most not most but a lot of women put their hands up a lot of men didn't or their some men did which is interesting and what we have with armpit hair is a classic social norm so there's no legislation there's no medical reason to do. It we're not taught school. You must remove your armpit hair and yet there is a social code. That is in place. That says I belong to this group of my peers. I undertake. That practice and actually. What holds it in place is the social shame. I would feel. I didn't do. It it's a social sanction and the power of that social sanction is so incredibly strong. Now it's obviously a flippant comparison.
We have a choice about our armpit hair and further bits of our body hair which I won't go into but nonetheless. I wanted to show. You our own social norms and why they matter so. What on earth is this got to do with ending female genital cutting well in Senegal things are changing so. These are three girls. That I met in the village called Sarah and Jane. I went to Senegal and I learnt about this incredible program. That was started by our. Now partner a charity called toastin and they've been working it in Senegal for 25 years on a literacy and numeracy program and what they learnt was in order to work on literacy numeracy.
You had to work on human rights first. Unless people understand. That they have a human right to access things. You can't embed change so toastin work with the entire community men women boys and girls and they explore with them for six months. What are your human rights through song through dance through drama through conversation and what happens in those conversations is people work out well okay. We have a right to life.
We have a right to health. We have a right to be free from violence. They may never have constructed. That before. They also learn about a universal declaration of human rights and after six months is up men women boys and girls collectively for the first time are able to talk about things. That they have never talked about before. Now what's important about a social norm is it has to shift collectively so. I could stand up in front of you and say. I am leading us to end on pit hair removal follow. Me I'm an individual. I just think it's atrocious but me on my own. I will get nowhere at all it's called the positive deviant approach.
I entered it and I ended up being shortlisted. I was competing against. One guy who had a million followers on Twitter. I had 63 but I thought. You know what I'm gonna go for it so against. All odds I went for it and I managed to win. This competition the prize was with three days notice to go to the World Economic Forum at Davos and present on a stage and a number of voices said to me Julia. You can't talk about vaginas at the World Economic Forum but it turns out. I could and it was. One of my biggest learnings is you don't shifter to boo by being quiet about it my other learning was. That instead of running away from.
I pursued world leaders down corridors actually. They wanted to know. They wanted to know how can. We help what can. We do the other incredible thing that happened in Davos was. Someone said to me you must go to Senegal so a year later. I went to Senegal and guess. What I got answers to those two questions why does female genital cutting happen well put very simply it's a social norm. Now a social norm is again simplistically. Something I will do. Because I think. You as my peer group expected of me it's actually a social expectation and the power of that is extraordinary so. I will act because.
I think that where's the stranger. I was tangoing with. That lunchtime there. You are so imagine we're cousins. I will act because. I think the stranger whose name. I forgot and I'm so sorry expects off. That I will undertake. This practice in real life. I think my cousin is actually here there. She has just flown in from the US hello and so. I will do something because. I think my cousins expect. We may never have shared a conversation about female genital cutting but the expectation is so strong. That it holds. It in place. I want to embed. It a little bit further by asking a question of you all. Because we all have social norms and here's one we practice in London so who in the room today has had to consider removing their armpit hair little look around okay so we've got not as. Many as I thought but we've got a gendered response there right.
Most not most but a lot of women put their hands up a lot of men didn't or their some men did which is interesting and what we have with armpit hair is a classic social norm so there's no legislation there's no medical reason to do. It we're not taught school. You must remove your armpit hair and yet there is a social code. That is in place. That says I belong to this group of my peers. I undertake. That practice and actually. What holds it in place is the social shame. I would feel. I didn't do. It it's a social sanction and the power of that social sanction is so incredibly strong. Now it's obviously a flippant comparison.
We have a choice about our armpit hair and further bits of our body hair which I won't go into but nonetheless. I wanted to show. You our own social norms and why they matter so. What on earth is this got to do with ending female genital cutting well in Senegal things are changing so. These are three girls. That I met in the village called Sarah and Jane. I went to Senegal and I learnt about this incredible program. That was started by our. Now partner a charity called toastin and they've been working it in Senegal for 25 years on a literacy and numeracy program and what they learnt was in order to work on literacy numeracy.
You had to work on human rights first. Unless people understand. That they have a human right to access things. You can't embed change so toastin work with the entire community men women boys and girls and they explore with them for six months. What are your human rights through song through dance through drama through conversation and what happens in those conversations is people work out well okay. We have a right to life.
We have a right to health. We have a right to be free from violence. They may never have constructed. That before. They also learn about a universal declaration of human rights and after six months is up men women boys and girls collectively for the first time are able to talk about things. That they have never talked about before. Now what's important about a social norm is it has to shift collectively so. I could stand up in front of you and say. I am leading us to end on pit hair removal follow. Me I'm an individual. I just think it's atrocious but me on my own. I will get nowhere at all it's called the positive deviant approach.
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