Researching FGM intervention programmes linked to African communities in the EU (REPLACE 2)

REPLACE was a 12 month Daphne III funded project aiming to contribute to effortsto end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) across the EU amongst practisingcommunities. It was a pilot project which applied a health behaviour changeapproach, combined with participatory action research methods (PAR) to identifyparticular behaviours and attitudes, which contribute to the perpetuation of FGMwithin the EU. The EU Parliament in 2009 estimated that 500,000 women in the EUhad been subjected to FGM, with a further 180,000 at risk. Despite being illegalacross the EU, FGM is a trans-European problem. REPLACE aimed to supplement

and/or „replace‟ existing approaches to the ending of FGM with health behaviour

change approaches to end the traditional harmful practice of FGM in the EU.The REPLACE pilot project aimed:To understand the barriers preventing the ending of FGM amongst Somaliand Sudanese communities in the Netherlands and the UK, using aparticipatory action research approach.To produce a toolkit which provides a practical guide on how to use healthbehaviour change with targeted communities to end FGM.This pilot toolkit is based on work undertaken with Somali and Sudanesecommunities residing in the Netherlands and the UK. The research was undertakenusing participatory action research methods by FSAN in the Netherlands and FORWARD UK in the UK.