In all times and in all societies, women and children are often the first victims of abusive and unfair traditions.

My project started in Africa, in Togo when I left on a humanitarian mission with the french association La Chaîne de L'espoir. I discovered many of traditional practices reserved to women and children : excision, rites of widowhood, voodoo convents, early forced marriages. The rites and beliefs still in force in some localities in Togo violate the rights of women and children.

We treat her as a witch and everything is done to dehumanize the victim. It's a real public health problem. Traumatized and rejected by their families who do not hesitate to chase them and their children from their homes.

Girls are more likely than boys to never go to school (UNESCO Institute for Statistics). According to UNICEF, every year, 12 million girls around the world are married as children, often leading to early pregnancy, putting their education and health at risk.

When schools are far from homes, such as in rural and remote areas, the likelihood of girls’ non-attendance increases. Girls are also particularly affected when their freedom of movement is restricted… Girls in remote and rural settings also tend to drop out of school more regularly than other girls owing to often exacerbated expectations relating to childcare, seasonal work or fetching firewood and water.

I would like to be able to give visibility to these causes through different series in order to raise awareness and inform also in Europe of the risks that young girls of immigrant background incur during their holidays in the countries of their parents where still practice excision.

 I hope to continue this project in other African countries and on other continents to meet these women and their children still trapped by these ancestral practices.