Had she known her rights, she would have known before the operation that this was a fraudulent threat. Awareness is also needed to challenge dangerous cultural norms - such as those that undervalue girls against boys. Boys continue the family bloodline and traditionally support ageing parents in later life. Yet feelings are changing in the younger generation - partly because of access to more diverse information. On the issue of female genital mutilation, the international agencies aren't mincing their words.
New technologies can also be helpful in supporting changes in attitude and increasing awareness.
He cited the case of a Caribbean experiment using satellite communications to connect local schools, children's hospitals and primary health care facilities. There are a lot of these kinds of initiatives starting up across the world - from Turkey to Ghana to Pakistan. There's little doubt that they can have a big impact in increasing the amount of information that campaign groups and policy-makers can have access to. But whether they can reach right to the grassroots remains to be seen. I'll keep you posted with any successes or failures that I hear about - and I expect there to be a lot of both before 1999 is out.