In Africa, female genital cutting is being abandoned—an unexpected result of an innovative program that promotes community-level problem solving. Julia Lalla-Maharajh reports from The Gambia
Julia spent 15 years in the corporate sector, then volunteered in various countries. In Ethiopia, she came across female genital cutting (FGC) firsthand and wanted to understand more. In 2010, she won a competition through YouTube to take the urgent human rights cause to Davos. She has set up the Orchid Project to work with communities that practice FGC to end it by 2025. She is currently in Senegal and the Gambia.