The Born Perfect Model is proving that Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) can be challenged more effectively when change is led by the people communities already know and trust.
Our latest Evidence Brief brings together independent research, frontline experience and results from thirteen Born Perfect Campaigns across Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya and Somalia since 2024.
Drawing on impact studies carried out by Vivid Research and DataMill and the first-hand experience of frontline organisations, evidence shows that this model is breaking through and rapidly changing minds in communities often neglected by traditional campaigns. Now, the model’s success will expand across Africa in a continent-wide revolution for FGM eradication, led by local women.
The Born Perfect Model
Since 2024, thirteen Born Perfect campaigns have been launched by frontline women across five African countries with high FGM prevalence rates. The approach is simple.
Local activists, survivors, doctors, religious leaders, former cutters and cultural influencers travel from village to village on Born Perfect Caravans, amplified by local radio, TV and film screenings that explain the medical, legal and religious realities of FGM in local languages.
The Born Perfect Model is locally-led and region-specific, empowering trusted local voices to bring about change from within communities.
As one community member in Wajir County, Kenya, told activists:
“Our village finally felt included.”
Why the Born Perfect Model is Breaking Through
The Evidence Brief identifies a clear pattern across the countries where the Born Perfect model has been implemented. People are more willing to reconsider FGM when medical, religious, and legal information comes from respected voices within their own communities, in their own language, and in ways that reflect their lived experience.
Evidence from Born Perfect Campaigns Across Africa
The findings published in the Evidence Brief demonstrate consistent results across different countries and cultural contexts.
Guinea-Bissau
- 94% of people who saw the Born Perfect Caravan changed their minds about FGM.
- One year later, 19 hard-line communities publicly declared abandonment.
Sierra Leone
- 39 villages reached in just two weeks.
- Around 60% of parents who attended said they would not cut their daughters.
- Paramount Chiefs began introducing bans on FGM within their own chiefdoms.
Liberia
- 85% of participants changed their attitudes towards FGM and committed not to cut their daughters.
Somalia
- More than 3 million people reached during the first five stops of a new three-month Born Perfect Caravan campaign.
- A full impact study is now underway.
Kenya
- Thousands of people attended Born Perfect Caravan stops across Wajir County.
- Local radio and television campaigns reached an estimated 23 million people nationwide.
From Evidence to Expansion
The scalable Born Perfect Model will now be expanded across Africa, led by a network of credible and experienced frontline activists. Phase II of the Somali Triangle is already underway, while the European Union has confirmed it will fund a second round of Caravans in Guinea-Bissau.
Frontline women are demonstrating that community-led action is changing attitudes and reaching millions of people who have too often been overlooked. We know what works. Now, local organisations need the resources to drive the eradication of FGM.
