We first met The Vavengers at the Festive Connector in December 2023. At the time, the survivor-led charity, which works to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and other forms of gender-based violence, was projecting an annual income of £150,000and had a staff of less than three.

CEO, Sema Gornall pitched for funding to extend their support services for women affected by FGM to Liverpool and Manchester. Our community raised £23,600.

In her impact report 12 months later, Sema described TFN’s support as a turning point:

“The TFN grant was a game changer for our organisation. It defined our growth moment, lifting so much financial pressure from our plate and enabling us to secure hundreds more charity partnerships by expanding our support hub programmes.”

Because the support hubs had been funded, The Vavengers were also able to direct other resources towards opening a campaigning headquarters in the City of London - a safe space where survivors of gender-based violence and young people from migrant communities could take part in youth and community ambassador programmes.

In her pitch, Sema also drew our attention to a major obstacle facing the movement to end FGM: the lack of reliable, up-to-date data. The most recent global figures then available dated back to 2014. Without better evidence, it was difficult to understand the true scale of the issue, identify gaps in legal protection or hold governments to account.

When we met The Vavengers again at Connector Plus in March 2025, the organisation’s projected income had doubled to £300,000 - and its ambitions had grown just as significantly.

Sema told us about plans for the world’s first global health and legal landscape report on FGM. An extraordinary team of around 30 lawyers, including partners and associates from King & Spalding and WilmerHale, had already begun working on the research entirely pro bono. The project was supported by former Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Max Hill, who joined the pitch as a key project partner.

The report would examine legal protections, equality legislation and progress in addressing FGM around the world. It would also map survivor activists, grassroots organisations and NGOs, creating a global knowledge resource for campaigners, governments and communities. We were proud to raise £20,500 to help make this ambitious project possible.

The report was subsequently launched in September that same year at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during the 80th United Nations General Assembly. Survivors of FGM were placed at the centre of the launch, ensuring that their experience and expertise informed the global conversation.

Since then and under Sema’s incredible leadership, The Vavengers has continued to build important funding partnerships, including with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Wallace Global Fund.

On 19 June 2026, at an event at Armourers’ Hall attended by TFN member and Acting Chair Anja Batista Sonksen - who originally introduced The Vavengers to TFN - a historic $10 million seed commitment was announced towards ending FGM and child marriage.

Beginning in late 2026, the investment will support survivor-centred initiatives, grassroots organising, global advocacy, campaigning and movement convenings. It represents an important first step towards mobilising the estimated $3.9 billion required to eradicate FGM and child marriage within our lifetime.

The scale of the announcement is testament to years of work by survivors, frontline organisations, campaigners, philanthropists and global partners. For TFN, it is also a powerful reminder of what can begin when an emerging organisation is given the funding, confidence and connections to grow.