Director’s Statement

I’ve been wanting to make a film highlighting the harmful tradition of female genital
mutilation (FGM) for decades. FGM is the most egregious systematic human rights
violation perpetrated on young girls and women in the world today—according to the
UN, 230 million girls and women alive today have been through Female Genital
Mutilation, and more than 3 million girls are still at risk each year. It’s happening in more
than 90 countries and on every continent except Antarctica. Every 11 seconds a girl
somewhere goes through Female Genital Mutilation; every 12 minutes a girl dies as a
direct result of FGM. And yet, many people don’t know about it, and of those who do,
many aren’t comfortable talking or hearing about it. It’s a tough topic.

Some people think that respecting traditional practices like FGM is more important than
human rights; there’s the fear too, that if people outside the community speak up
against female genital mutilation, we risk being accused of racism. But FGM happens to
people of all color from many ethnicities and religions, and by placing the emphasis on
the sensitivities of the adults, we are sacrificing the fundamental human rights of the
children.

This is why I made In The Name Of Your Daughter.

I wanted to amplify the voices of the children themselves, the young girls who are fighting to save themselves from Female Genital Mutilation. Because here is the thing; once young girls are educated about the potential effects of FGM—death, increased maternal mortality, pain urinating and menstruating, fistula, loss of sexual pleasure and so on—they do not want to go through it.

By turning the lens and placing the focus squarely on the young courageous children who are speaking up and taking action against FGM, In The Name Of Your Daughter aims to help change the conversation around this issue. I hope that hearing the voices and stories of these girls will empower and inspire audiences of every color, everyreligion, every ethnicity, including survivors, to stand up and speak up and defend girls’ rights to a life free from mutilation and child marriage. Survivors and activists who campaign against FGM are clear that this fight is not the purview of one group – it is the responsibility of each and every person who believes that human rights are girls’ rights, and that girls’ rights are human rights.

As U.K. Human Rights activist and FGM survivor Hibo Wardere says: “Don’t say can I get it involved. Will I be seen as a racist? No. You are a human being.
Be that simple human and get involved. Be brave and bold. Use your voice for greater good.” Leyla Hussein, another survivor activist, echoes Wardere’s sentiments. “The silence around Female Genital Mutilation is deafening. If this was happening to white girls, there would be an outrage, and all we are asking is can we have similar outrage.” In The Name Of Your Daughter is me, using my skills for greater good, by giving a voice to girls as young as eight whose voices have been silenced for far too long. There have been many films about FGM, each one a significant contribution. I’m hoping that our film too will help raise awareness and play a key role in the growing #EndfFGM movement.

In The Name Of Your Daughter was years in the making; it is a documentary that tells one of the most important human rights stories of our time from the perspective of the

young girls who are living it; it is a celebration of girls’ rights to have their voices heard and their young bodies left intact. I hope the film will help people everywhere understand that it’s not just okay, that in fact it’s everyone’s responsibility to stand up in the name of other people’s daughters and speak up against Female Genital Mutilation. Making this film has been a real journey for me, especially in a climate where so much of the conversation is around ‘is this your story to tell? ‘ For me, there is no question. The girls in the film, and they’ve seen it, are thrilled that someone cared enough to bring their voices, their stories, to the world. Today, when people see my white skin and say, ‘Why are you talking about this?’, my simple reply is, ‘Why aren’t you?’

Finally, I’m very grateful to the team of talented and passionate Tanzanians who accompanied me on this journey– Samson Kapinga, Laurent Kiria, Hadija Hassan, Boaz Mashauri, Mercy John, Sam Obae and others, all young Africans working to change their society. I thank them, and admire them enormously. This film could not have been
made without them.

Giselle Portenier