Giving Compass' Take:

• Jackie Marchildon and Olivia Kestin report that an exhibit in the UN headquarters is drawing attention to the women leading the fight against female genital mutilation through photography. 

• How can funders best support the fight against female genital mutilation? 

• Learn about efforts to end female genital cutting. 

An estimated 200 million women and girls today have been subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM) around the world, and another 68 million stand to be cut by 2030 if no action is taken.

But a new photo exhibit in New York aims to raise awareness and prevent that.

Media agency Dysturb partnered with the UNFPA to launch a public exhibit on Feb. 6 entitled “Female Genital Mutilation: 68 Million Girls at Risk." It's currently on display at the UN headquarters in New York, and mural-sized public posters shedding light on the issue have been plastered across the city.

The project highlights a range of issues attached to the practice, including a geographical look at its prevalence, but its primary goal is to provide a platform for those who speak out against FGM.

Dysturb is an “alternative media” that uses city streets to present global stories, and it was first launched in 2014 by a group of photojournalists, writers, and artists. They had all been covering stories of conflict, humanitarian crisis, and climate change for many years, and felt disheartened by the fact that these stories were only seen for a day or week in their usual outlets. They had also noticed an increasing mistrust of traditional media.

“We wanted to give life to these stories and also reconnect with the audience,” Benjamin Petit, Dysturb co-founder, told Global Citizen.

Read the full article about the fight against FGM by Jackie Marchildon and Olivia Kestin at Global Citizen.