Despite international turmoil and aid cuts, frontline women like Rugiatu Turay keep on keeping on, not only as survivors of FGM, but as resilient leaders changing social norms on the ground and inspiring hope for women and girls worldwide.
Now leading the Born Perfect Campaign across West Africa, Turay reports that she has “finally found the key to eradicating FGM after decades”.
A Lifetime of Leadership in Eradicating FGM
Rugiatu Neneh Turay has represented women and children on international platforms as Sierra Leone’s Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs. Her story has been featured by Dua Lipa’s Service95 as an activist “you should know about,” as well as by the BBC and CNN.
Turay was awarded PfefferminzGreen’s International Human Rights Award For Political Courage and Sincerity in 2020, for as “a leading figure in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation in Sierra Leone, representing and promoting women’s rights in the political system of the country” (PfefferminzGreen).
Yet she remains in Port Loko, Sierra Leone, caring for the countless girls she has rescued from FGM over her 20 years as an activist, while continuing to lead the frontline movement to eradicate FGM across the country.
“Thanks to her struggle, [Turay] has succeeded in shifting the perceptions in her community to a great extent, and empowered women to stand against this harmful practice. She has become a leading figure in combatting female genital mutilation, and has been widely recognised by numerous awards.” – Hrant Dink Foundation (2024).
From Policy Change to Community Action
Founder of the Amazonian Initiative Movement (AIM) and a leading voice in the FrontlineEndingFGM network, Turay has been at the forefront of historic change.
Her leadership – alongside survivor Kadijatu Allieu – helped secure the landmark 2025 ECOWAS ruling that FGM constitutes “torture,” placing a legal obligation on Sierra Leone to criminalise the practice.
While the government has yet to act, Turay and her frontline team did not wait. They took the message directly to local communities.
The Born Perfect Caravan: A Breakthrough in Eradicating FGM
In November 2025, during the 16 Days of Activism, AIM led an unrelenting Born Perfect Caravan campaign—strategically rebranded as the “Born Perfect Bus Tour” to sidestep resistance to perceived Western framing.
The results were immediate and striking:
- Over 17,000 people reached
- Across 39 hardline pro-FGM villages
- In just 16 days
The impact was widespread—mothers and chiefs from other communities began calling Turay and the team to bring the bus to their villages.
Rescuing Girls at Risk
Four schoolgirls: Adamsay Bangura, 14; Emma Turay, 15; Zainab Kamara, 15; and Isatu Koroma, 16, were in one of those villages.
Two days into the campaign, an anonymous caller reported that four girls had been taken to be cut as initiation into the Bondo Bush – Sierra Leone’s secret women’s society.
Emma, Zainab, Kamara, and Adamsay were not only to be cut themselves but then trained to carry on the tradition by mutilating two more girls each while working as domestic servants for the cutters.
Despite facing hostility, Turay and her team managed to rescue the four girls as they were being taken into the “Sowie shrine” for mutilation.
The girls joined the Born Perfect Bus Tour, and are now under Turay’s custody and attending school in Port Loko district – safe from mutilation. Read their full story here.
Scaling Efforts Across West Africa
But hundreds of thousands of girls remain at risk of mutilation in Sierra Leone alone this year.
Turay is now leading the Born Perfect regional action plan in West Africa, working closely with grassroots leaders in Liberia for a cross border caravan campaign, with plans to expand into Guinea and Senegal.
Why Backing Frontline Women Is Key to Eradicating FGM
This June, she will bring the voice of frontline women to London, speaking at the launch of the Wallace Global Fund’s $10 million End FGM Global Action Fund – a pooled basket fund designed to sustain and scale locally led, evidence-based solutions.
Joined by a network of over 1000 frontline women and activists across Africa, Turay is bringing FGM to the global stage – making it clear that FGM is everybody’s business.
Communities are ready to act.
Frontline women have the trust and experience to lead change.To truly succeed in eradicating FGM, international donors must now be ready to back them.
