This document discusses how mapping technology is being used to fight female genital mutilation (FGM) in rural Tanzania. FGM involves cutting female genitalia and can have severe health consequences. During "cutting seasons", activists and safe houses have trouble locating girls at risk of FGM. The organization Hope for Girls and Women trains local mappers to add locations like villages and safe houses to offline map apps to help activists and police quickly find and protect girls. Since starting this mapping program, over 3,000 girls have been able to avoid FGM and the death rate from the practice has reduced by 75%. The mapping efforts have now expanded globally to help combat FGM in other countries as well.

1. Fighting
Female Genital Mutilation
with
Maps

2. FGM
The cutting of female genitalia for cultural or religious reasons:
Type 1: partial or total removal of the clitoris
Type 2: as Type 1 with additional removal of the labia minora and often the labia majora
Type 3: re-arrangement of the genitals to narrow the vaginal opening
Type 4: all other procedures (pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterizing)

3. Girls are rounded up during the
‘Cutting Season’
when they are on school holidays
70% +
50% +
Less than 50%
FGM Prevalence in Tanzanian Women and Girls 2016

4. Local FGM survivor and Hope
Director Rhobi Samwelly
Hope for Girls and Women supports:
• Local Activists
• Outreach
work
• Safe Houses

5. But girls cannot find the safehouses:
And safehouse staff cannot find them:

6. This is rural Tanzania:
This is Dar es Salaam:

7. Activists
in rural Tanzania
need
MAPS!

8. We are making them!

10. MAPPING ON MAPS.ME
We train field mappers
in rural Tanzania to add
their local knowledge to
the map using
Maps.Me, a free
smartphone app that
works offline.

12. And trained the police
and activists to use the
maps to quickly find and
protect girls at risk.
And also add missing
places to the map.

13. New smartphone users
see a map of their village
for the first time.

15. Better maps have:
• helped 3000+ girls to find safehouses
and avoid being cut
• coincided with a reduced FGM
death rate of 75%

17. We have trained over 1600 local activists to map their
communities in Tanzania, around 40% female

18. We were invited to organise a
mapathon at UNFPA in New
York in September 2018.
It was attended by 60 people
from UNFPA, UNICEF,
HOTOSM, Youthmappers and
others

19. To coincide with this
we held a global
mapathon events in 60
countries.
Including at the
Ministry for Women in
Somalia, in Mali,
Guinea, Kenya, Niger,
Uganda and many
others.

20. https://hopeforgirlsandwomen.com/digital-champions/

21. Please join us and help map to help protect girls from FGM!
Janet Chapman
j.chapman@tanzdevtrust.org
@Crowd2Map