Sini Sanuman staff and volunteers gathered to distribute the poster announcing the law against FGM, May 27, 2025
We advocate against FGM in various ways: through in-person meetings and individual discussions, and through the media with broadcasts of songs and music videos, radio shows, films and billboards against FGM. We also collect signatures to work toward outlawing FGM and other violence against women.
Mali has a ban now against FGM, since December 2024. The Penal Code out-laws sexual violence and the government assures us that FGM is sexual violence. This certainly doesn’t obviate the need for our advocacy, but it really helps. We are working now to spread the news that FGM is no longer allowed. This is the new section of the Penal Code that outlaws FGM. It's Article 327-2, 3rd and 4th paragraphs.
The document that proves that FGM is sexual violence is the Women's Ministry's National Holistic Strategy to put an end to Gender Based Violence - 2019 - 2030, page 16. To see our new poster, go to Our Work.
Three videos at right explain our work. The first is a 3-minute summary, the next is an October 2020 panel discussion that includes the director of the film In the Name of Your Daughter, which we've shown on Malian TV. The third says what we do in one minute.
Songs and music videos that we have produced to spread our message have been played widely in Mali and nine other countries in West Africa.
Our
Pledge Against Excision , a promise never to have a girl excised, now has well over 80,000 signatures. 95% of those signing say that Mali should outlaw the practice. With our partner groups, we worked toward such a ban. Starting in 2017, we collected signatures on the Pledge Against Gender-Based Violence, since the government decided that they wanted to pursue a more general law, against FGM, forced marriage and other forms of violence against women. This new Pledge has over 3,100 signatures, as of 2025, with a similar percentage in favor of a law.
Twenty two villages have collectively abandoned the practice of excision with our encouragement, and most have celebrated their decisions with public ceremonies that we helped them organize.
On November 30, 2024 , the village of Sibiribougou celebrated their decision to stop FGM and the penalty for anyone who dared to do it would be exclusion from the 2 springs in the village for 4 months.
On April 29, 2024 , the villages of
Diakoni ,
Djinidié ,
Chobougou and
Sirakoro Dounfing gathered to mark their decision to stop excising in their villages. They signed a Declaration which includes a fine of $130 for anyone who goes against the decision (see photos and video at right).
One hundred seventy one former excisers have agreed to give up the practice and many of them are helping spread the word.
We put up
posters and billboards to raise awareness in the campaign. Our most recent billboard shows a mother and daughter and the message "I love my daughter, so I'm protecting her from FGM" in French,
Susan McLucas and the work of Sini Sanuman (5 minutes)
Presentation to African Diaspora Engaging Africa, April 2024, about Susan's work in Mali (45 minutes)
Summary (3 minutes)
Panel discussion
On April 29, 2024, four villages celebrated their decision to stop excising: Diakoni, Chobougou, Djinidijé and Sirakoro Dounfing.
The crowd of around 400 at the ceremony.
Dancing marking the four villages' decisions to stop FGM.
Healthy Tomorrow is a non-profit group based around Boston, Massachusetts, that supports the work of Sini Sanuman.
St James’s Episcopal Church
1991 Mass Ave, Cambridge (corner Beech St)
6 William St, Somerville (corner College Ave)
Sat. & Sun., Dec. 14 & 15, 2024, 10am-4pm
In April 2022, we hosted an online screening of "In the Name of Your Daughter" and had a panel discussion with the director Giselle Portenier and our president Susan McLucas afterwards. We had people from all over the world, a few who were working on implementing new anti-FGM laws in their countries. (view poster)
Healthy Tomorrow stood out on the Boston Common for the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM on February 6, 2023.
Susan gave a talk at Community Church of Boston
on February 19, 2023. (click to enlarge poster)
