Civil society in action: Les Orchidées Rouges prevented the FGM of a girl in France

An Ivorian mother recently succeeded in preventing the excision of her adult daughter thanks to the support of our member Les Orchidées Rouges in Bordeaux. Her story reached the French press and touched many readers.

“I refused to let her be cut. I fought against everyone.” Florence told Sud Ouest. She took refuge in France to save her 14-year-old daughter, who was threatened with female genital mutilation.

Coming from eastern Côte d’Ivoire, where FGM is rare, Florence stood firmly against her daughter’s paternal family from the north, where this human rights violation remains widespread. The separation from this side of her family caused deep pain, but she chose courage over conformity to save her daughter.

Since then, Florence and her daughter, who now live in Périgueux, have been supported by the organisation Les Orchidées Rouges in Bordeaux. Founded in 2017 by Marie-Claire Koulibaly-Moraldo, it is a full member of the End FGM European Network. Also present in Lyon and Abidjan, Les Orchidées Rouges is the first and only organisation providing comprehensive and free support for women affected by female genital mutilation and forced marriage. Since 2020, more than 1,200 women and girls have received assistance through its programs.

Despite the legal bans, FGM continues to be done in many countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, where the government is struggling in enforcing the legal prohibition, even though it is enshrined in the new 2016 constitution. In Côte d’Ivoire, 36.7% of women and girls aged 15 to 49 have undergone FGM, according to our report The Time is Now: End Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting, An Urgent Need for Global Response 2025 (no updated data has been available since 2020, as of December 2024).

In this context, Les Orchidées Rouges from Bordeaux welcome and support hundreds of women each year, women who have survived or are at risk, as well as young mothers striving to protect their daughters. Their work is multifaceted, as the organisation supports women survivors of FGM and forced marriage through a holistic and evolving care pathway that combines psychological, medical, social and professional dimensions.

Especially, Les Orchidées Rouges provide:

• Listening and personalised care: Les Orchidées Rouges attentively listen to the testimonies of survivors of female genital mutilation and forced marriage. Together with each woman, they co-design an individualised, holistic, and evolving care pathway.

• Therapeutic workshops: They organise both group and individual therapeutic workshops that support psychological reconstruction, self-esteem building, body and sexuality reclamation, and empowerment. These include talking groups, art therapy (writing, theatre, singing, visual arts), socio-aesthetic care, dance therapy, and sexuality education workshops.

• Well-being sessions: They offer relaxation and body-awareness sessions such as yoga and sophrology, and may also include reflexology, osteopathy, or similar therapies.

• Legal empowerment: They provide information sessions on women’s and human rights, as well as workshops on access to legal protection and sexual and reproductive health rights (sometimes organised in formats such as “legal cafés”).

• Awareness and prevention: The organisation carries out prevention and awareness-raising activities directly within communities and local territories. Their initiatives target individuals, professionals, and civil society at large through conferences, seminars, film screenings, sexuality education, creative workshops, and interventions in schools.

• Economic empowerment: They support women’s economic independence through the Happy Business Women group, which offers guidance and solidarity to current and aspiring women entrepreneurs.

• Art as a tool for awareness: Les Orchidées Rouges use art as a medium for expression and awareness-raising. One of their initiatives includes a theatrical reading performed by beneficiaries themselves, based on texts written during creative writing workshops.

The story of this mother from Côte d’Ivoire, who against all odds left her home to protect her daughter, is one among thousands of stories of women striving for freedom and fighting for their right to bodily integrity and dignity. Through its dedication to supporting women, Les Orchidées Rouges reminds us that solidarity is an act of justice, and that true gender equality is achieved through awareness and education.