Adriana Kaplan Marcusán (

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, 19 December 1956) is an Argentine

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

and Director of the NGO Wassu Gambia Kafo (WGK) and the Wassu Foundation of the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. , the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...

. She is expert in sexual and reproductive health with a focus on the prevention of

female genital mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...

(FGM).

Biography

Adriana Kaplan Marcusán was born in Buenos Aires on 19 December 1956. She is a professor of Anthropology of Health at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Executive Director of the NGO Wassu Gambia Kafo and the Wassu Foundation of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and Director of the Chair Knowledge Transfer. She has been working in the Gambia, Senegal and Guinea Bissau since 1989 studying sexual and reproductive health, focusing on the prevention of

(FGM). She leads the Transnational Observatory of Applied Research to New Strategies for the Prevention of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) hosted by the Wassu-UAB Foundation, (5)?? with two research and training centres: in Spain, the Interdisciplinary Group for the Prevention and Study of Harmful Traditional Practices (IGPS/HTP) at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology in the UAB; in The Gambia, the local NGO Wassu Gambia Kafo. She has been a collaborating researcher of the Gambia Medical Research Council, adviser to the Women's Bureau and consultant for various international agencies (UNFPA, UNDP, UNICEF, EU). In Spain, she advises, trains and collaborates with institutions to plan and implement FGM care and prevention programs. She is a member of the Women's Shura Council in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, the Committee of Experts on FGM at the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

in Geneva and the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Published works

Among her publications are various articles, books and training guides and material. She also directed four documentaries ''Gambia: Ciclo vital y supervivencia'' (''Gambia, life cycle and survival)'' (1991), ''Initiation without cutting'' (2004), that provides an alternative methodological proposal for the prevention of FGM, translated into five local languages, at the request of the Vice Presidency of The Gambia, ''Brufut Declaration'' (2009), and ''A future without mutilation'' (2013), which collects the testimonies of health professionals, students, traditional midwives, circumcisers, community and religious leaders.

Awards and distinctions

* 1998 X Award Rogeli Duocastella in Social Sciences, “la Caixa” Foundation. * 2003 Excellence in Research Grant Ramón y Cajal, Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. * 2005 Women for Women Distinction, Barcelona * 2008 International Navarre Prize for Solidarity, Government of Navarre * 2008 Award for the best oral communication, VII Workshop on Social Security Primary Health Teams, Espulgas de Llobregat, Barcelona * 2008 Esteve Laboratories Award for the best oral communication, II Congress of the Valencian, Balearic and Catalan Societies of Family and Community Medicine * 2008 Nestlé Award for the best oral communication, XXII National Congress of the Spanish Society of Extra-hospital Paediatrics and Primary Care, Tenerife * 2009 Chair of Knowledge Transfer, Parc de Recerca-UAB Santander. * 2014 Award for the Fight against FGM/C for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence, Spanish Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality. * 2017 Memorial Lluís Companys: Award for Trajectory fighting against gender violence and FGM, Irla Foundation. * 2017 IV DKV Awards “Medicine & Solidarity: Award to the Trajectory, DKV. * 2018 Global Woman Awards 2018: Advocacy category, Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplan Marcusan, Adriana Activists against female genital mutilation Living people 1956 births Argentine anthropologists Argentine women anthropologists Social scientists from Buenos Aires Academic staff of the Autonomous University of Barcelona