Mae Azango

Mae Azango is a Liberian journalist for FrontPage Africa. She is particularly known for her reports on female genital mutilation (FGM), which helped suspend the practice in the nation.

Mae Azango gave birth to her first child during the war, at the age of 18. Forced to use a traditional midwife, Azango stated that the superstitious midwife beat her during the birth and accused her of being an adulteress. Azango later became a refugee.

Journalism Azango returned to Liberia in 2002 and began work as a journalist. In 2011, she documented the rape of a 13-year-old girl by a police officer, causing him to later be arrested.

Reporting on female genital mutilation Azango is best known for her reporting on FGM, a traditional practice in which the clitoris and part of the labia are amputated, often in unsanitary conditions, by members of the secret Sande society. An estimated 58% of Liberian women went through some form of the procedure.

On 8 March 2012—International Women's Day—she published a story in Front Page Africa telling of a woman who was held down by five other women while her clitoris was amputated. The story detailed the procedure, which the Sande consider secret. The paper received so many threats the day that the story appeared that Azango's editor, Wade Williams, called to tell her to go into hiding. Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders also issued statements of support, as did the Columbia Journalism School and the International Federation of Journalists. Radio journalist Tetee Gebro of the Liberian station Sky FM broadcast a version of Azango's story in a show of solidarity. The statement was the first time Liberian politicians had publicly criticized the practice of FGM.

Awards In 2011, Azango won a grant from the US-based Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting for her work on "under-reported stories" in "human interest and developmental journalism".

Following the FGM controversy, Azango was announced as a winner of the 2012 CPJ International Press Freedom Awards. The award recognizes journalists who show courage in defending press freedom despite facing attacks, threats, or imprisonment.

Also in 2012, Azango won one of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression's International Press Freedom Award. The awards are presented annually to journalists who have demonstrated their commitment to human rights and honest reporting, and who have overcome tremendous obstacles in their work. The award is presented at the CJFE Gala: A Night to Honour Courageous Reporting, held in Toronto, Canada.