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LEARN MOREPosted: 3:24 p.m. EDT Aug 23, 2017
A group of Kenyan girls are trying to combat the traditional practice of female genital mutilation with an app. They've nicknamed themselves "The Restorers."
Female genital mutilation — or FGM — often occurs as a way to prepare girls for marriage. Because of this, the practice can cause them to drop out of school. It can also cause infection.
It's not just a problem in Kenya. UNICEF estimates at least 200 million women worldwide have had the practice done to them.
FGM is something "The Restorers" have seen their friends go through. So they developed the app i-Cut.
The app gives girls access to resources, including people working to prevent FGM, and help if they already underwent cutting.
A UNICEF poll says 93 percent of women and girls in Kenya that the organization asked think FGM should stop. But not all Kenyans agree.
"One village elder drove six hours to their school to protest the app," Dorcas Owinoh, the girls' mentor, told Voice of America.
But that hasn't discouraged the girls. They're working on getting their app in the Google Play Store.
