Hawa Sesay, founder and executive director of Hawa Trust in Hackney and a qualified social worker. Hawa has used her personal experience of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) to help others.

Hawa has been supporting communities in Hackney and around the world to learn more about how FGM is a dangerous practice with devastating lifelong physical, psychological and emotional effects on the women and girls who are subjected to it.

Hawa often speaks to local authorities and medical practitioners about the work of Hawa Trust, her grass- roots local organisation that works in Hackney among African and other ethnic minority communities. Hawa works to support communities to tackle FGM, engage with them to change attitudes, provide information for young women and girls, and provide referrals to other organizations and statutory services. Hawa also addresses issues relating to HIV and AIDS, and domestic violence.