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Jaha's Journey - a Documentary Film

The story of the girl who said, ‘Not me. Not today.’

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Jaha's Journey - a Documentary Film

Jaha's Journey - a Documentary Film

Jaha's Journey - a Documentary Film

Jaha's Journey - a Documentary Film

Jaha's Journey - a Documentary Film

The story of the girl who said, ‘Not me. Not today.’

The story of the girl who said, ‘Not me. Not today.’

The story of the girl who said, ‘Not me. Not today.’

The story of the girl who said, ‘Not me. Not today.’

Patrick Farrelly
Patrick Farrelly
Patrick Farrelly
Patrick Farrelly
1 Campaign |
Bronx, United States
$55,535 USD 1,916 backers
85% of $65,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

The Documentary

It’s rare for a documentary maker to encounter a character as compelling as Jaha Dukureh, and a journey as extraordinary as the one she’s taken from The Gambia in West Africa to the U.S., and back again. Better still to be able to document this 25 year-old survivor of female genital mutilation as she combats the brutal practices that almost destroyed her life.

Jaha has a natural, raw honesty when she's telling us her own story or  remembering a small detail that brings back a flood of emotions from another time. 

She also has an infectious passion and an intelligence that makes her a formidable opponent of this ancient practice, whether we’re watching her engage with people on a dusty street in a West African town or in a congressional office in Washington DC. 

Jaha bringing her anti-FGM message to the streets of The Gambia


Jaha’s life was not supposed to be like this. Tradition demanded that she be subject to FGM within a week of her birth. Just after her mother died, when she was barely 15 years old, she was taken to the United States to marry an older man she’d never met before.

She explains what was expected of her: submit to your husband and live an obedient life just like your sisters. That also meant “cutting” your own daughters and sentencing them to the kind of life that you and the women who came before you had endured.

This film is the story of how Jaha rejected that plan, escaped that "marriage" and went through many difficult challenges before she could begin to help others — first in the US, and then in her home country of the Gambia in West Africa. 

First she launched a Change.org petition calling on President Obama to address the FGM problem in the US. After 220,000 people signed her petition the administration conceded and began addressing the issue. That success gave Jaha the impetus and the confidence to turn her attention to The Gambia where the Change.org campaign was followed closely in the media. She was going home.

Jaha at her anti-FGM campaign headquarters in The Gambia


FGM is prevalent in 28 countries in Africa alone and involves the partial or total removal of female genitalia. 130 million women live with it's consequences and an estimated 6,000 girls are "cut" every day. This ritual is very painful and traumatic and often results in severe bleeding and fatal blood infections — Jaha’s sister died as a result of it. It also destroys sexual pleasure for women. 

Wherever the documentary's cameras went there were FGM survivors who shared their stories.  All are different but the impact of the violence done to each woman's body is an ever present trauma in their lives. The ambition of Jaha's Journey is to represent that pain and bring it to the attention of the world.

Last year Jaha launched an extraordinary campaign and grassroots organization to end FGM in The Gambia. It's already having a big impact. One result of the campaign is that for the first time there is serious consideration being given to making FGM illegal. It is also being seen as a template for campaigns against FGM in other countries in Africa. 

Jaha's story and her journey contains within it the narrative of countless girls whose stories we'll never hear, their lives lived in the shadows, their dreams unfulfilled. The ambition of this film is to draw attention to their existence or, better still, that they themselves will see the film and draw hope from it, if not for themselves then at least for their daughters.

Girls on a market street in Serrakunda in The Gambia


Who has supported the film up to now?

The Guardian newspaper and the Human Dignity Foundation have generously supported our filming and editing to date. The Guardian has done more than any other media organization to investigate, document and highlight FGM while the Human Dignity Foundation has a long record of supporting those who work for individual and social change in Africa and Asia.  

The Guardian's  Global Media Campaign against FGM is an unprecedented media venture that Jaha has vigorously supported. Led by the award-winning investigative journalist Maggie O'Kane, the Guardian's anti-FGM initiative has begun targeting this brutal practice in a campaign that will take them to every country where it is prevalent. 

The entire range of Guardian's extraordinarily detailed coverage of FGM -- both articles and short documentaries -- can be seen here.

Who are the key creative people behind the documentary?

The film's director and producer is Patrick Farrelly, an award-winning documentary maker whose work has appeared on HBO, PBS, the BBC, RTE and other European networks. The film's Director of Photography is Kate McCullough, who won the World Cinematography Award in Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival for His and Hers in 2010.  Sinead Kinnane is the film's editor and her last feature documentary, the Emmy-nominated Burma Soldier, was shown on HBO in the U.S.

Where will the film be seen?

The film will first be aimed at film festivals internationally. After that it's hoped that it will have a life in cinemas and later on television in the US, Europe and elsewhere. 

We have made a  commitment to work with the Guardian Global Media Campaign on an  international  media outreach programme to make  sure that Jaha's Journey is broadcast on popular television in ALL countries where FGM is practiced. This is a film that will make a difference on the ground in the countries where FGM continues to destroy the lives of generations of girls. 

We'll also use a number of social media platforms to get the film out there in as many different versions and languages as we can.

In The Gambia Jaha has plans to tour the documentary around the countryside and show it to people in villages and towns using a mobile screen. 

What will your contributions enable us to do? 

Allow us to do more filming. There are a number of important developments on the horizon with Jaha and her work that need to be filmed.

We need to continue editing the film.

Allow us to commission a composer to score the documentary.

When the edit is completed the film needs to be color corrected and the sound mixed and sweetened.

The archival footage we’ll use will need to be licensed.

Graphics and animation elements will have to be created.


Read more about Jaha Dukureh

In December 2014 The Guardian's Alexandra Topping wrote a detailed article for the Guardian magazine about Jaha. This is the most comprehensive piece that's been written about Jaha's background and her campaign work.

Liriel Higa wrote this article for Nicholas Kristof's blog in the New York Times that looks at the success of Jaha's Change.org petition and the prevalence of survivors of FGM who are now living in countries like the United States. The New York Times also featured Jaha in this article by Julie Turkowitz about so-called 'vacation cutting' where young girls in the US are brought back to Africa to be subject to FGM.

Heather Wood Rudulph wrote this comprehensive article about Jaha and two other survivors of FGM in Cosmopolitan magazine back in May 2014 when Jaha had just started her Change.org petition.









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Choose your Perk

Thank You!

$5 USD
You’ll receive a personal email from Jaha Dukureh thanking you for your contribution. This is a film that can make a big difference to the lives of countless girls around the world and you've helped to make it happen.
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Thanks & You're Listed

$10 USD
You’ll receive a personal email from Jaha Dukureh thanking you for your contribution towards the completion of this film. Your name will also be listed on a web site devoted to naming all of those who helped make this film happen.
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The Stream

$25 USD
We’ll send you a link so that you can watch the finished film with your friends. You'll have the bragging rights on the night for helping to complete this film! You'll also receive regular emails updating you on the film's progress and news of Jaha's work.
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Preview Invite

$50 USD
We'll send you an invite to one of the preview screenings of the documentary that will be held in the US, the UK and Ireland. These invitation-only screenings will give you an exclusive preview of the film and a chance to take part in a post screening question and answer session with the film makers.
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Preview Invite

$100 USD
You’ll receive an invite for you and a guest to one of the invitation-only previews of the film that will take place in a number of cities in the US, the UK and Ireland. We’ll also send you a streaming link to the finished film so that you can share the experience with friends.
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Preview & Poster

$150 USD
We’ll give you a poster of the film signed by Jaha Dukureh to take home after you and guest come to one of the invitation-only screenings of the film that will take place in a number of cities in the US, the UK and Ireland.
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The Skype

$250 USD
You’ll take part in Skype call with Jaha Dukureh and the film’s director Patrick Farrelly where we’ll have a conversation both about the film and the work that Jaha is doing to combat FGM. You and guest will be invited to one of the invitation-only previews of the film in a number of cities in the US, the UK and Ireland. We'll also send you a link so you can screen the film for your friends.
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The Tote

$300 USD
You’ll receive a hand crafted tote bag made by Safe Hands for Girls. This stylish bag is made from fabric sourced by Jaha Dukureh in West Africa. You and a guest will be invited to one of the screenings of the film in the US, the UK and Ireland.
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March 2016
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The Dress

$425 USD
You can order a custom made dress for a favored woman in your life (which can be you!) The dress will be made from fabric sourced by Jaha in West Africa and crafted by the Safe Hands for Girls organization. You and a guest will be invited to one of the screenings of the film in the US, the UK and Ireland.
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March 2016
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Red Carpet Special

$500 USD
You'll receive an invite for you and a guest to attend the premiere of the film in either the US, the UK, Ireland or in a number of African cities. You'll receive a personal thank you from Jaha and the creative team when you attend the after party.
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Dinner, Film & Credit

$750 USD
A invitation for you and a guest to attend a limited seating dinner in New York or London with Jaha and members of the creative team behind the film. An invite for you and a guest to the premiere of the film and the after party in the US, UK, Ireland or in a number of African cities . You'll also be credited in the film’s credit roll.
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Associate Producer

$1,000 USD
As a big thank you for your contribution to the film you'll be named as an Associate Producer in the film’s credits. You'll also receive an invitation for you and two guests to attend a limited seating dinner in New York or London with Jaha and members of the creative team behind the film. Plus an invite for you and three guests to the premiere of the film and an after party.
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Our Sponsor

$5,000 USD
In recognition of your vital role in making this film you'll you receive a Sponsor credit in the film’s credit roll. You'll also receive an invitation for you and two guests to attend a limited seating dinner in New York with Jaha and members of the creative team behind the film. Plus you'll receive and invite for you and two guests to the premiere of the film and an after party.
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Dear Producer

$10,000 USD
You are you one of the key people responsible for making it all happen and you'll become one of the film’s producers and will be credited as such. You'll also receive an invitation for you and three guests to attend a limited seating dinner in New York or London with Jaha Dukureh and members of the creative team behind the film. Plus there's an invite for you and three guests to the premiere of the film and an after party.
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