Mali sees pro-FGM social media surge with 'yes to excision' slogan as anti-FGM posters spark backlash
A coordinated social media campaign defending female genital mutilation (FGM) emerged in Mali this August, featuring AI-generated posters showing men of various backgrounds smiling with thumbs up, national colours, and the slogan 'In Mali, yes to excision! Let’s protect girls and build their future.' This appeared days after an NGO displayed anti-FGM posters in Bamako. The campaign reverses protection arguments in a country where 89% of women aged 15-49 have undergone FGM – one of the highest rates globally – and where the practice causes roughly 44,000 excess deaths yearly across 15 African countries, including Mali, making it a leading cause of death for girls and young women where practised. Mali’s 2024 Penal Code condemns violence generally but does not specifically name FGM as a crime, unlike neighbours Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea, Niger, Egypt and Sudan which have passed such laws. Local women’s rights advocates note the practice may be slowly receding (70% prevalence among girls 0-14, down from 74% in 2018) but remains deeply entrenched, with supporters framing it as religious obligation or tradition despite medical evidence of severe pain, bleeding, infection, chronic complications, and psychological trauma. The campaign’s true scope is unclear due to AI-generated content, though some portrait subjects have retracted support under pressure. On 26 August, Mali’s National Human Rights Commission urged authorities to criminalize FGM. With regional bans already in place elsewhere, will Mali’s authorities act to protect girls’ bodily integrity, or will the sovereignty and tradition arguments promoted by this campaign delay lifesaving legal reform?