How Rising Climate Pressures Are Threatening the Global Fight Against FGM
Escalating climate change is threatening global efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation. Increased economic instability in vulnerable regions is forcing families to rely on harmful traditions for survival, severely hindering progress toward the UN's 2030 goal of eliminating the practice entirely.
Highlights
- •Climate change exacerbates economic instability, making it harder for communities to abandon FGM practices.
- •FGM is often used as a desperate economic strategy to guarantee marriageability and household income.
- •Over 230 million women and girls globally have been affected by this harmful traditional practice.
- •Efforts to end FGM must be integrated with climate resilience, food security, and social protection programs.
Escalating climate-induced pressures are creating significant obstacles in the global effort to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). As environmental challenges such as severe droughts, flooding, and water shortages threaten livelihoods, vulnerable communities face heightened economic instability. This climate crisis acts as a potent risk multiplier, threatening to erode progress made in protecting the rights and safety of women and girls worldwide.
The Connection Between Climate Stress and Harmful Traditions
Research indicates that when families in regions like Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, and Kenya experience agricultural failure and loss of livestock, they become increasingly desperate for financial security. In many of these societies, FGM is deeply intertwined with cultural expectations surrounding marriageability, chastity, and bride-price. Families often view these harmful practices as a way to safeguard a girl's prospects for a secure future, using them as a mechanism to manage household income during times of extreme environmental scarcity.
Although extreme weather events do not directly cause these practices, they act as a catalyst that makes abandoning them significantly more difficult. When food insecurity rises and vital aid programs shrink, communities may revert to traditional practices they perceive as protective, further marginalizing girls and reinforcing regressive gender roles. This dynamic makes the United Nations' objective to eliminate FGM by 2030 a profoundly challenging target.
Addressing FGM Amid Environmental Crises
Globally, over 230 million girls and women have undergone female genital cutting, with the highest prevalence concentrated in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. While national legislation, community education, and youth-led initiatives have successfully shifted attitudes in some areas, the intensifying climate crisis threatens to silence these voices of change. In regions like Sanaag, Somaliland, many young women are actively vocalizing their opposition to these practices, yet they find themselves facing renewed pressure from community elders who advocate for a return to traditional values as a response to instability.
The persistence of these practices is often justified by the need to ensure a girl's purity before marriage, which remains a critical factor in securing a beneficial dowry. However, as the climate crisis disrupts traditional ways of life, families are forced to prioritize survival, which can lead to increased rates of child marriage and FGM. It is essential to recognize that interventions aimed at ending FGM cannot be isolated from broader climate adaptation efforts. Providing food security, social protection, and sustainable economic opportunities is crucial to building resilience. Without integrating these strategies, the most vulnerable girls will continue to bear the heaviest burden of environmental changes they did not create.
