June 30, 2010
The New York Times
Advocates have been fighting to end female genital mutilation across Africa and parts of the Middle East and Asia, marking progress one village at a time. The battleground extends to immigrant communities in the developed world, which still value this horrifying ritual.
Female genital mutilation has been banned in the United States since 1996. Representatives Joseph Crowley of New York and Mary Bono Mack of California are now sponsoring legislation that would make it a felony to take a girl out of the country to have the procedure, punishing violators with fines and a five-year prison term. Supporters hope the law will be a deterrent and embolden more young women or their mothers to resist family or community pressure and defend themselves.
The need for strong resistance was underscored after the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a statement that a milder version of mutilation — a nick of a girl’s genitals done in a doctor’s office — should be made legal in the United States as a way to prevent families from taking children abroad for the full brutal procedure. Advocates rightly argued that medicalizing this violence against women would only legitimize it and undermine the force of the ban. The academy has since withdrawn the statement.
Congress should move quickly to pass the Girls Protection Act. More needs to be done. State health authorities should step up education campaigns in immigrant communities. Pediatricians could make it their business to recognize and report the signs of abuse.
Federal officials could ensure that ports of entry like Kennedy International Airport in New York City have informational signs, hot lines and a shelter. An international departure terminal may provide the last chance to save a girl from a lifetime of suffering and early death.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Ethiopian FGM Radio Warnings Reach Nomadic Women
June 27, 2010
By Dominique Soguel - Women's eNews
Nomadic girls in the Danakil Desert of Ethiopia often skip school to fetch and carry water. But in one settled pocket, girls are going to school and mothers in the past two years have begun heeding radio warnings on female genital mutilation.
DALLOL, Ethiopia (WOMENSENEWS)--The schoolmaster at Kursawat, a rural area in the Afar region of Ethiopia, is struggling to bring awareness of the benefits of girl education and the risks of female genital mutilation.
Ethiopia outlawed female genital mutilation in 2004 but the practice is deeply rooted and nearly universal in the Afar and Somali regions. In 2005 a government health survey found that 74 percent of girls and women nationwide had undergone the ritual cutting.
"Circumcision is still going on here," Schoolmaster Kadesang Fasile told Women's eNews. "Most of the Afar are nomads so they can't be reached through educational broadcasts."
The Afar is a collection of itinerant pastoralist tribes living in the Danakil Desert, in northeast Ethiopia, toward the border with Eritrea. Nicknamed "Hell on Earth," the desert claims the world record for the highest average annual temperature in an inhabited location: 94 F. Average annual rainfall is less than eight inches.
There are 500 nomadic households in Fasile's school district and families often relocate without regard to the school calendar. The school--the only cement structure in the area, more than one hour away from the nearest paved road--sees an annual dropout rate of between 20 and 30 percent. Mothers and fathers in the community, says Fasile, see a cultural threat in female education.
"If a woman is educated and succeeds, she will live for herself and that is not permitted," said Fasile. "Here the woman fetches water."
But harsh gender attitudes are starting to soften in other pockets of the Afar region.
By Dominique Soguel - Women's eNews
Nomadic girls in the Danakil Desert of Ethiopia often skip school to fetch and carry water. But in one settled pocket, girls are going to school and mothers in the past two years have begun heeding radio warnings on female genital mutilation.
DALLOL, Ethiopia (WOMENSENEWS)--The schoolmaster at Kursawat, a rural area in the Afar region of Ethiopia, is struggling to bring awareness of the benefits of girl education and the risks of female genital mutilation.
Ethiopia outlawed female genital mutilation in 2004 but the practice is deeply rooted and nearly universal in the Afar and Somali regions. In 2005 a government health survey found that 74 percent of girls and women nationwide had undergone the ritual cutting.
"Circumcision is still going on here," Schoolmaster Kadesang Fasile told Women's eNews. "Most of the Afar are nomads so they can't be reached through educational broadcasts."
The Afar is a collection of itinerant pastoralist tribes living in the Danakil Desert, in northeast Ethiopia, toward the border with Eritrea. Nicknamed "Hell on Earth," the desert claims the world record for the highest average annual temperature in an inhabited location: 94 F. Average annual rainfall is less than eight inches.
There are 500 nomadic households in Fasile's school district and families often relocate without regard to the school calendar. The school--the only cement structure in the area, more than one hour away from the nearest paved road--sees an annual dropout rate of between 20 and 30 percent. Mothers and fathers in the community, says Fasile, see a cultural threat in female education.
"If a woman is educated and succeeds, she will live for herself and that is not permitted," said Fasile. "Here the woman fetches water."
But harsh gender attitudes are starting to soften in other pockets of the Afar region.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
A harsh 10-year lesson for father over female ‘cut’
June 26, 2010
By Julius Sigei - Daily Nation
(above) Mrs Jane Lanoi displays a tool used to carry out female circumcision. She preaches against the rite, practiced by many pastoral communities. Photo/FILE
A landmark court ruling has sent shock waves through communities that practise female circumcision.
In an unprecedented judgment, a Narok court last month convicted and sentenced a man and a woman to 10 years each in jail after a 12-year-old girl bled to death in an attempted circumcision at Naroosura area of Narok South District.
Sasiano Nchoe, who was being initiated into womanhood, died on August 18, 2008, after bleeding for five hours. Her body was buried immediately in a shallow grave.
Her body was exhumed and examined after the intervention of officials from Tasaru Girls’ Rescue Centre who alerted the authorities.
The court charged traditional surgeon Nalang’u Ene Sekut and Sasiano’s father Kantet ole Nchoe with manslaughter under Section 14 of the Children’s Act of 2001 which states that “no person shall subject a child to female circumcision, early marriage or other cultural rites”.
“What pained me most was that Sasiano’s father told me nonchalantly that if a woman died, it was not a big deal,” said Agnes Pareiyo, director of the rescue centre who is also the head of the V-Day Movement in Kenya.
She said the traditional surgeon, who was Nchoe’s mistress, was an amateur and was learning the ropes on the victim.
“It was then that I swore to struggle to bring the culprits to book,” Mrs Pareiyo said, adding that she had not known that that would be the beginning of a long and difficult road to finding justice.
She said Sasiano’s case was a strong message that female genital mutilation kills and that people can be jailed for it.
However, some cultural conservatives have condemned the ruling and vowed to press on with the practice, claiming it is important in preparing girls for marriage and making them responsible members of society.
“How can you jail a responsible man who was preparing his daughter for marriage? It was only unfortunate that the girl died. It was not the intention of the two to kill Sasiano,” said Mzee Saning’o ole Gilisho, 70, at his Parkitabu home on the edge of the Maasai Mara game reserve.
He added that under the traditional justice system, the circumciser would have been made to pay one cow as a fine “since the killing was clearly inadvertent”.
An anthropologist from the community, who requested not to be named for fear of being seen as insensitive to the plight of girls, said the sentence was grossly unfair as it did not consider the cultural environment in which the act was performed.
“I blame the system which criminalises female circumcision. Had it been legalised, the girl would have been given proper medical attention, and she need not have died,” he said, praising the practice for having served the purpose of regulating the number of marriageable girls.
But Henry ole Kulet, the community’s foremost writer whose novel Blossoms of the Savannah won the 2009 Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature for its handling of female circumcision, disagrees.
He said that while the practice served its purpose in the past, culture was dynamic and people should change with it.
John Wainaina, Narok Deputy Children’s Officer, said the ruling had sent shockwaves through the region, which had also made those hell-bent on practising female circumcision (known as female genital mutilation by its critics), devise new ways of evading the law to perpetuate the practice, which he said was now being performed in Kenyan hospitals.
Mrs Pareiyo launched her anti-female circumcision campaign in Narok District in 1999 when she was a top official in Maendeleo ya Wanawake. She has been at loggerheads with many local leaders who believe circumcision makes women good wives in the same way it turns boys into responsible men for the community.
By Julius Sigei - Daily Nation
(above) Mrs Jane Lanoi displays a tool used to carry out female circumcision. She preaches against the rite, practiced by many pastoral communities. Photo/FILE
A landmark court ruling has sent shock waves through communities that practise female circumcision.
In an unprecedented judgment, a Narok court last month convicted and sentenced a man and a woman to 10 years each in jail after a 12-year-old girl bled to death in an attempted circumcision at Naroosura area of Narok South District.
Sasiano Nchoe, who was being initiated into womanhood, died on August 18, 2008, after bleeding for five hours. Her body was buried immediately in a shallow grave.
Her body was exhumed and examined after the intervention of officials from Tasaru Girls’ Rescue Centre who alerted the authorities.
The court charged traditional surgeon Nalang’u Ene Sekut and Sasiano’s father Kantet ole Nchoe with manslaughter under Section 14 of the Children’s Act of 2001 which states that “no person shall subject a child to female circumcision, early marriage or other cultural rites”.
“What pained me most was that Sasiano’s father told me nonchalantly that if a woman died, it was not a big deal,” said Agnes Pareiyo, director of the rescue centre who is also the head of the V-Day Movement in Kenya.
She said the traditional surgeon, who was Nchoe’s mistress, was an amateur and was learning the ropes on the victim.
“It was then that I swore to struggle to bring the culprits to book,” Mrs Pareiyo said, adding that she had not known that that would be the beginning of a long and difficult road to finding justice.
She said Sasiano’s case was a strong message that female genital mutilation kills and that people can be jailed for it.
However, some cultural conservatives have condemned the ruling and vowed to press on with the practice, claiming it is important in preparing girls for marriage and making them responsible members of society.
“How can you jail a responsible man who was preparing his daughter for marriage? It was only unfortunate that the girl died. It was not the intention of the two to kill Sasiano,” said Mzee Saning’o ole Gilisho, 70, at his Parkitabu home on the edge of the Maasai Mara game reserve.
He added that under the traditional justice system, the circumciser would have been made to pay one cow as a fine “since the killing was clearly inadvertent”.
An anthropologist from the community, who requested not to be named for fear of being seen as insensitive to the plight of girls, said the sentence was grossly unfair as it did not consider the cultural environment in which the act was performed.
“I blame the system which criminalises female circumcision. Had it been legalised, the girl would have been given proper medical attention, and she need not have died,” he said, praising the practice for having served the purpose of regulating the number of marriageable girls.
But Henry ole Kulet, the community’s foremost writer whose novel Blossoms of the Savannah won the 2009 Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature for its handling of female circumcision, disagrees.
He said that while the practice served its purpose in the past, culture was dynamic and people should change with it.
John Wainaina, Narok Deputy Children’s Officer, said the ruling had sent shockwaves through the region, which had also made those hell-bent on practising female circumcision (known as female genital mutilation by its critics), devise new ways of evading the law to perpetuate the practice, which he said was now being performed in Kenyan hospitals.
Mrs Pareiyo launched her anti-female circumcision campaign in Narok District in 1999 when she was a top official in Maendeleo ya Wanawake. She has been at loggerheads with many local leaders who believe circumcision makes women good wives in the same way it turns boys into responsible men for the community.
Friday, June 25, 2010
A "ritual nick" too far
June 25, 2010
By Victoria Moore - The Sydney Morning Herald
In October 1992 a program went to air on ABC TV called Where Angels Fear to Tread on female genital mutilation. I was involved through a program the ABC offered to aspiring writers called Writer-in-Observation.
The storyline was of a young schoolgirl of Muslim background who was brought to the surgery by her mother to have a procedure performed that involved female genital mutilation. This placed the doctors in a dilemma. It was a procedure that although not banned at the time was strongly advised against by the Australian Medical Association, leaving individual doctors to make their own ethical decisions.
The arguments made were that if Australian doctors did not perform this procedure, it would, much like the abortion debate, lead to back-alley bungling or the girl being taken overseas to have the procedure.
The young girl, herself, it was revealed, had serious doubts, but the pressure from within her community to have the procedure was extreme. Pressure that was brought to bear by the mothers and grandmothers and, indeed, the euphemism most commonly used was "going to grandma's".
In 1994, two years after the screening of this episode, the AMA banned all forms of female genital mutilation Australia-wide. But, now here in Australia, it has been suggested that a "ritual nick" could be performed to appease cultural sensibilities in some Muslim communities. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/doctors-dont-support-ritual-nicking-20100528-wi3t.html
The idea for a "ritual nick" was raised by the American Academy of Paediatrics, and promptly retracted. The procedure is a prick or nick of a girl's clitoral skin.
It is a less severe form of female genital mutilation, which in its most acute form, called infibulation, involves the removal of the clitoris, the labia minora and the sewing up of the labia majora covering the urethra and leaving only a small vaginal opening. In some countries still, if a girl has not had this procedure performed she is considered unworthy of marriage. It also makes childbirth extremely dangerous — can you imagine giving birth through a vagina that has been sewn up so that only a very small opening remains? Doctors in London 30 years ago were forced to perform hysterectomies to save the lives of Middle Eastern women who had given birth after enduring female genital mutilation.
And yet as this idea of a "ritual nick" gains media coverage here, attitudes against female genital mutilation continue to advance throughout the Middle East. Egypt, for example, now performs these "ritual nicks" as opposed to the more severe form of mutilation, but infibulation is still prevalent in East African countries and small communities in Asia. It is estimated that between 4 and 5 million of these procedures are performed annually world-wide.
In Muslim countries where these customs are still being observed, there are woman taking great risks, sometimes life threatening, to protect their young girls from these practices. They themselves want it to cease once and for all. If we in Australia legitimise these practices, however ritualistically, it will totally negate their work, their beliefs and their futures. Now is not the time to succumb to this tradition.
Indeed in Switzerland it is not only illegal to peform these types of procedures, but children can also be removed from their parents if it is found that they have subjected them to female genital mutilation. This has resulted in all but ceasing the practice in the East African immigrant population in that country.
The federal government should pass into law all the recommendations of the Australian Medical Association that have been in place since 1994 so that female genital mutilation, in whatever form, is not performed here.
Victoria Moore is a freelance writer now living in regional Victoria.
By Victoria Moore - The Sydney Morning Herald
In October 1992 a program went to air on ABC TV called Where Angels Fear to Tread on female genital mutilation. I was involved through a program the ABC offered to aspiring writers called Writer-in-Observation.
The storyline was of a young schoolgirl of Muslim background who was brought to the surgery by her mother to have a procedure performed that involved female genital mutilation. This placed the doctors in a dilemma. It was a procedure that although not banned at the time was strongly advised against by the Australian Medical Association, leaving individual doctors to make their own ethical decisions.
The arguments made were that if Australian doctors did not perform this procedure, it would, much like the abortion debate, lead to back-alley bungling or the girl being taken overseas to have the procedure.
The young girl, herself, it was revealed, had serious doubts, but the pressure from within her community to have the procedure was extreme. Pressure that was brought to bear by the mothers and grandmothers and, indeed, the euphemism most commonly used was "going to grandma's".
In 1994, two years after the screening of this episode, the AMA banned all forms of female genital mutilation Australia-wide. But, now here in Australia, it has been suggested that a "ritual nick" could be performed to appease cultural sensibilities in some Muslim communities. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-national/doctors-dont-support-ritual-nicking-20100528-wi3t.html
The idea for a "ritual nick" was raised by the American Academy of Paediatrics, and promptly retracted. The procedure is a prick or nick of a girl's clitoral skin.
It is a less severe form of female genital mutilation, which in its most acute form, called infibulation, involves the removal of the clitoris, the labia minora and the sewing up of the labia majora covering the urethra and leaving only a small vaginal opening. In some countries still, if a girl has not had this procedure performed she is considered unworthy of marriage. It also makes childbirth extremely dangerous — can you imagine giving birth through a vagina that has been sewn up so that only a very small opening remains? Doctors in London 30 years ago were forced to perform hysterectomies to save the lives of Middle Eastern women who had given birth after enduring female genital mutilation.
And yet as this idea of a "ritual nick" gains media coverage here, attitudes against female genital mutilation continue to advance throughout the Middle East. Egypt, for example, now performs these "ritual nicks" as opposed to the more severe form of mutilation, but infibulation is still prevalent in East African countries and small communities in Asia. It is estimated that between 4 and 5 million of these procedures are performed annually world-wide.
In Muslim countries where these customs are still being observed, there are woman taking great risks, sometimes life threatening, to protect their young girls from these practices. They themselves want it to cease once and for all. If we in Australia legitimise these practices, however ritualistically, it will totally negate their work, their beliefs and their futures. Now is not the time to succumb to this tradition.
Indeed in Switzerland it is not only illegal to peform these types of procedures, but children can also be removed from their parents if it is found that they have subjected them to female genital mutilation. This has resulted in all but ceasing the practice in the East African immigrant population in that country.
The federal government should pass into law all the recommendations of the Australian Medical Association that have been in place since 1994 so that female genital mutilation, in whatever form, is not performed here.
Victoria Moore is a freelance writer now living in regional Victoria.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Fighting FGM in Northern Iraq
June 21, 2010
By PRI's The World
http://media.theworld.org/audio/061620106.mp3
Human Rights Watch is on the offensive, trying to combat female genital mutilation in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq.
This story was originally covered by PRI's The World. For more, listen to the audio above.
The emotionally, physically and psychologically disturbing practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is surprisingly common in Northern Iraq. A recent survey found that more than 40 percent of women in the Chamchamal district had undergone the risky procedure that involves the removal of the clitoris and sometimes other genital parts. Some women as young as 3 to 12 years old have been forced into the situation by family members. A recent report by the nonprofit Human Rights Watch focused on the problem and called on the Kurdish government to take action to stop it.
"What this report does is it really does tell that story of how unexpected, surprising and really harrowing this experience is for these little girls," Human Rights Watch's Jessie Graham told PRI's The World. The women are often forced into the situation by the elders in the community, and by their mothers, aunts and cousins. Some believe it is an Islamic sunnah, an action taken to strengthen one's religion that is not obligatory.
Many Muslim scholars have spoken out against FGM, according to the report by Human Rights Watch. Some have said it is contradictory to the teachings of Islam. Clerics, interviewed for the report, said that "any practice interpreted as sunnahendangers people's lives, it is the duty of the clerics to stop it."
The practice continues, however, in part because the government is not doing enough to stop it, the report contends. The Kurdish government is relatively progressive on issues of women's rights and domestic violence, but it has not addressed FGM in a systematic way. A majority of the members of the autonomous the Kurdistan National Assembly supported banning FGM in 2008, but the bill was never enacted into law. And the current government has taken no actions to stop the practice.
The government needs to both ban FGM and work with communities to put a stop to it. According to Grahm:
It's dangerous, it really interferes with the quality of women's lives, it's something that can have lasting health effects, both mentally and physically."So they need to come out against it and say this isn't a religious practice, this isn't a traditional practice that we need to hold onto.
PRI's "The World" is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. "The World" is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. More "The World."
http://media.theworld.org/audio/061620106.mp3
Human Rights Watch is on the offensive, trying to combat female genital mutilation in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq.
This story was originally covered by PRI's The World. For more, listen to the audio above.
The emotionally, physically and psychologically disturbing practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is surprisingly common in Northern Iraq. A recent survey found that more than 40 percent of women in the Chamchamal district had undergone the risky procedure that involves the removal of the clitoris and sometimes other genital parts. Some women as young as 3 to 12 years old have been forced into the situation by family members. A recent report by the nonprofit Human Rights Watch focused on the problem and called on the Kurdish government to take action to stop it.
"What this report does is it really does tell that story of how unexpected, surprising and really harrowing this experience is for these little girls," Human Rights Watch's Jessie Graham told PRI's The World. The women are often forced into the situation by the elders in the community, and by their mothers, aunts and cousins. Some believe it is an Islamic sunnah, an action taken to strengthen one's religion that is not obligatory.
Many Muslim scholars have spoken out against FGM, according to the report by Human Rights Watch. Some have said it is contradictory to the teachings of Islam. Clerics, interviewed for the report, said that "any practice interpreted as sunnahendangers people's lives, it is the duty of the clerics to stop it."
The practice continues, however, in part because the government is not doing enough to stop it, the report contends. The Kurdish government is relatively progressive on issues of women's rights and domestic violence, but it has not addressed FGM in a systematic way. A majority of the members of the autonomous the Kurdistan National Assembly supported banning FGM in 2008, but the bill was never enacted into law. And the current government has taken no actions to stop the practice.
The government needs to both ban FGM and work with communities to put a stop to it. According to Grahm:
It's dangerous, it really interferes with the quality of women's lives, it's something that can have lasting health effects, both mentally and physically."So they need to come out against it and say this isn't a religious practice, this isn't a traditional practice that we need to hold onto.
PRI's "The World" is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. "The World" is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. More "The World."
Monday, June 21, 2010
Shocking Statistics on "female genital mutilation"
Female circumcision a good idea? Ask 73 percent of Kurdistani women.
June 21, 2010
June 21, 2010
By Tracey Shelton - Global Post
Delan, 11, describes how at the age of six her mother held her down while an "old woman" performed what human rights groups refer to as female genital mutilation. (Tracey Shelton/GlobalPost)
PASHQROTAL, Iraqi Kurdistan — Along with her pink pajamas and playful eyes, Delan has an 11-year-old’s endearing smile.She leans against an old stone wall and chats with friends as chickens and geese cluck around her feet. Rocky mountains form a towering backdrop. This is Iraqi Kurdistan, where the people are as tough as their environment.
Sitting on the empty floor of her family’s mud brick home in this remote village, Delan’s smile quickly fades. She speaks of the day, when she was 6 years old, that an “old woman” came to visit.
“I was in the room playing with my cousin and they called us to come,” Delan said. “They cut my cousin. I was very afraid. I was crying and crying. My mother is very fat; I knew if I could run she could not catch me, but she held me too strong. I could not get away. There was a lot of blood from that place. I cried and cried. I hated my mother.”
The tradition of female genital mutilation, or FGM, has survived for centuries in this deeply traditional region of northern Iraq. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), FGM is the “partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.” Unspoken by society and unquestioned by victims, any mention of the subject is considered taboo.
The women from Delan’s village say the custom is carried out in village homes with the use of a razor blade. The ritual is performed by female relatives or “older women” of the village. Often there is more than one girl, as with Delan and her cousin, and the same blade is used. Delan said no medicine —antiseptic or anesthetic — was given to her. She was sick for two days, but eventually the bleeding stopped.
A report released June 16 by international rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW), has underscored Kurdistan’s legacy of FGM and how caught the region is between its rapid development and an ancient tradition with links to religion and a male-dominated culture.
The HRW report, “They took me and told me nothing,” documents the extent of FGM and calls for action from the Kurdish government. The report found that FGM rates were as high as 73 percent among Kurdish women aged 14 and over.
“The tragedy is that FGM is perpetuated by mothers, aunts and other women who love and want the best for their children,” the report said. The study added that such women see the practice as necessary for their daughters to grow up as “marriageable” and “respectable” members of society.
One mother quoted in the report said: “It is sunnah ... Everyone is doing this. Of course this is a good thing for my daughter. When someone does something, we all have to do it.”
HRW researcher Nadya Khalife said the 31 women interviewed for the report felt it was a religious obligation. Many had no idea of the physical or emotional risks.
The alleged religious aspects of FGM are a controversial issue within the Islamic community. Some religious leaders believe it is a cultural custom that predates Islam.
At the release of the HRW report in Erbil, Mullah Omar Chngiyani, a religious leader and host of a religious television program, said that within Islam, circumcision for boys is obligatory while for girls it is optional.
“There is no Koran verse that says, ‘circumcise your daughters,’” said Chngiyani, adding that six of his seven daughters and two of his wives had not undergone FGM.
Much of the HRW report was based on a two-year study carried out by the Association for Development Cooperation in Iraq (WADI), released in March.
According to WADI, 42 percent of the mothers interviewed said they had made the choice to perform FGM on their daughters themselves. A further 22 percent were advised by their mother-in-law and 12 percent by their own mothers. Only 2 percent said they were advised by their husbands.
Thomas Van der Osten-Sacken, WADI’s head of mission in Iraq since 1991, said victims suffered physical trauma, a range of medical complications. There can also be devastating effects on the relationship between a child and her mother, he said.
“FGM affects almost every aspect of their lives,” he said.
As security in Iraqi Kurdistan continues to stabilize, development has brought a new way of thinking.
For the younger generation, increased social freedoms constantly clash with restrictive cultural tradition. Views and expectations of love and sexuality are rapidly changing. This collision is perhaps felt most strongly by victims of FGM.
According to the WADI report, the rate among the younger generation is significantly lower overall, yet still relatively high. Among those below 20, 57 percent had undergone FGM, while for those in their 30s the figures climbed to 74 percent. Nearly 96 percent of women over 80 had undergone FGM.
For a woman, the sexual effects can be devastating and confusing. In medical terms, the report says the removal of the clitoris “impairs normal female sexual response.” The practice essentially removes the women’s "sexual organ" but leaves her "reproductive organs" intact.
“The result is generally sad and unsatisfactory sex for both marriage partners,” Osten-Sacken said. “When we enter a village we will often spend the first two hours bombarded by questions from husbands.”
As WADI project coordinator Falah Muradkhan pointed out: “The more you talk about the impact, the more people understand what has been taken from them.”
In collaboration with other non-government agencies, WADI prepared a petition to ban FGM that was presented to the government in March 2007. More than half of the 14,000 signatories were men.
Despite the reports and petitions, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has refused to officially acknowledge the prevalence of FGM.
“This report is false,” said Mariwan Naqshbandi, spokesman for Kurdistan's Ministry of Religious Affairs regarding the HRW report. “How can you make a report like this without contacting the Mullahs?”
Naqshbandi said since FGM did not occur in Kurdistan, there was no need for a law or public education on the subject.
“The Mullahs already advise against it,” he said. “This is enough.”
Former Kurdish parliamentarian Pakhshan Zangana introduced a draft law banning FGM in 2007. Parliament refused to discuss the law stating the issue was “not widespread enough” to be addressed. Zangana said she believed the issue was too sensitive to mention.
“Our community has a long way to go to discuss issues related to the sexualities of women,” she said. “People asked us on the streets: does Parliament not have a more serious issue than circumcision to discuss?”
The information provided to the KRG by its medical advisors seems to be equally disturbing. Dr. Atia al-Salihy, a prominent medical advisor to the government, told HRW she did not believe FGM had negative physical effects.
“Circumcision is nothing,” she said in the report, adding that it had no influence on a women’s life nor her relationship with her husband.
The HRW report said it would take a legal ban as well as the cooperation of religious leaders, educators and doctors if change is to occur any time soon.
Until that happens, the tradition of FGM seems certain to impact the lives of young girls like Delan.
“If I have daughters I will do the same for them because it is good,” Delan said. “It makes me a good girl, a good wife and good for society.”
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Bristol women protest against genital mutilation
June 16, 2010
By BBC News
Women opposed to female genital mutilation have marched through Bristol in a protest against the practice.
About 20 people, many of them Somali women, handed out leaflets in the Easton area. An estimated 2,000 girls in the city are at risk.
The practice, which is illegal in the UK, can cause urinary infections, kidney failure and death.
Bristol midwives say they are coming across a large number of women with complications caused by it.
Also known as female circumcision, the practice is carried out in more than 28 countries in Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and South America.
Social services say they are investigating one case of female genital mutilation in Bristol a month. Chronic pain
Local women and agencies are highlighting its criminality and the risk of death from bleeding or tetanus.
They say it can also cause problems including urinary incontinence, infections and chronic pain.
Some 600 people working in health, education, the police, social services and the voluntary sector have had awareness training in the last three years.
A new poster and leaflet campaign backed by the Bristol Safeguarding Children Board aims to raise awareness and tell people where to go for advice.
One midwife from Southmead Hospital told BBC West: "About 90% of Somali mothers I see have a form of female [genital] mutilation - some of them think the minor type is acceptable but the practice is illegal and very painful."
Det. Ch. Insp. Dave McCallum, from Avon and Somerset Constabulary, said: "Female genital mutilation is a serious crime attracting a prison sentence of up to fourteen years.
"If underage children are involved it is also classed as child abuse."
By BBC News
Women opposed to female genital mutilation have marched through Bristol in a protest against the practice.
About 20 people, many of them Somali women, handed out leaflets in the Easton area. An estimated 2,000 girls in the city are at risk.
The practice, which is illegal in the UK, can cause urinary infections, kidney failure and death.
Bristol midwives say they are coming across a large number of women with complications caused by it.
Also known as female circumcision, the practice is carried out in more than 28 countries in Africa, as well as in parts of Asia and South America.
Social services say they are investigating one case of female genital mutilation in Bristol a month. Chronic pain
Local women and agencies are highlighting its criminality and the risk of death from bleeding or tetanus.
They say it can also cause problems including urinary incontinence, infections and chronic pain.
Some 600 people working in health, education, the police, social services and the voluntary sector have had awareness training in the last three years.
A new poster and leaflet campaign backed by the Bristol Safeguarding Children Board aims to raise awareness and tell people where to go for advice.
One midwife from Southmead Hospital told BBC West: "About 90% of Somali mothers I see have a form of female [genital] mutilation - some of them think the minor type is acceptable but the practice is illegal and very painful."
Det. Ch. Insp. Dave McCallum, from Avon and Somerset Constabulary, said: "Female genital mutilation is a serious crime attracting a prison sentence of up to fourteen years.
"If underage children are involved it is also classed as child abuse."
Kurdistan Is Urged to Ban Genital Cutting
June 16, 2010
By Namo Abdulla and Timothy Williams - The New York Times
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq — Human Rights Watch urged Kurdistan’s government on Wednesday to ban genital cutting of women and girls, a practice the organization said is widespread and dangerous there, but which they said Kurdish officials had failed to move aggressively to stop.
Human Rights Watch, an advocacy organization based in New York, interviewed 31 girls and women last year and combined its findings with recent surveys by other organizations that found that at least 40 percent of girls and women in Iraq’s Kurdistan region had undergone the procedure, which typically involves cutting off external genitalia with a dirty razor blade.
One of the studies, of about 1,400 girls and women interviewed during 2007 and 2008, found that almost 73 percent of women 14 years and older said that at least a portion of their genitals had been removed.
The report criticized Kurdish lawmakers for failing to approve legislation to ban the practice, saying attempts in the past had fallen short because Kurdistan had not made the issue a priority.
“Although it has not been completely inactive, its efforts have been piecemeal, low key and poorly sustained,” the report said of the Kurdish government.
During its interviews with Kurdish officials, Human Rights Watch said the government had played down the frequency of the practice, in part because of concerns about the damage the study might have on the international reputation of Kurdistan, which is generally regarded as being more Western and less socially conservative than much of the Middle East.
Human Rights Watch “was told that the rates of female genital mutilation were not significant and that organizations working to combat this practice had other ‘interests,’ such as tarnishing the reputation of Kurdistan,” the report said.
The Kurdish government does not collect its own data on genital cutting.
Mariwan Naqshbandi, a spokesman for Kurdistan’s Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, dismissed the study, saying that it had distorted reality and that Kurdistan had “issues far more important” to confront.
“The report is extremely exaggerated,” he said. “It is so unfair. It relied solely on some local reports. It relied on rumors.”
He added: “Circumcision exists as an isolated occurrence, rather than as a phenomenon in Kurdistan. It only exists in certain places.”
Human Rights Watch said Kurdish girls and women described genital cutting as being physically painful and psychologically scarring.
“Girls undergoing the procedure are forcefully held down, their legs pried apart, and part of their genitalia cut off with a razor blade,” the report said. “Often the same blade is used to cut several girls. No anesthesia is applied beforehand and if anything at all is applied to the open wound afterwards, it is water, herbs, cooking oil or ashes.”
In addition to wounds caused to women, risks include an increase in the rate of stillbirths and in the occurrence of babies with low birth weight, the report said.
It is not clear how common genital cutting is in the rest of Iraq, because it has not been the subject of a comprehensive study.
A version of this article appeared in print on June 17, 2010, on page A10 of the New York edition.
By Namo Abdulla and Timothy Williams - The New York Times
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq — Human Rights Watch urged Kurdistan’s government on Wednesday to ban genital cutting of women and girls, a practice the organization said is widespread and dangerous there, but which they said Kurdish officials had failed to move aggressively to stop.
Human Rights Watch, an advocacy organization based in New York, interviewed 31 girls and women last year and combined its findings with recent surveys by other organizations that found that at least 40 percent of girls and women in Iraq’s Kurdistan region had undergone the procedure, which typically involves cutting off external genitalia with a dirty razor blade.
One of the studies, of about 1,400 girls and women interviewed during 2007 and 2008, found that almost 73 percent of women 14 years and older said that at least a portion of their genitals had been removed.
The report criticized Kurdish lawmakers for failing to approve legislation to ban the practice, saying attempts in the past had fallen short because Kurdistan had not made the issue a priority.
“Although it has not been completely inactive, its efforts have been piecemeal, low key and poorly sustained,” the report said of the Kurdish government.
During its interviews with Kurdish officials, Human Rights Watch said the government had played down the frequency of the practice, in part because of concerns about the damage the study might have on the international reputation of Kurdistan, which is generally regarded as being more Western and less socially conservative than much of the Middle East.
Human Rights Watch “was told that the rates of female genital mutilation were not significant and that organizations working to combat this practice had other ‘interests,’ such as tarnishing the reputation of Kurdistan,” the report said.
The Kurdish government does not collect its own data on genital cutting.
Mariwan Naqshbandi, a spokesman for Kurdistan’s Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, dismissed the study, saying that it had distorted reality and that Kurdistan had “issues far more important” to confront.
“The report is extremely exaggerated,” he said. “It is so unfair. It relied solely on some local reports. It relied on rumors.”
He added: “Circumcision exists as an isolated occurrence, rather than as a phenomenon in Kurdistan. It only exists in certain places.”
Human Rights Watch said Kurdish girls and women described genital cutting as being physically painful and psychologically scarring.
“Girls undergoing the procedure are forcefully held down, their legs pried apart, and part of their genitalia cut off with a razor blade,” the report said. “Often the same blade is used to cut several girls. No anesthesia is applied beforehand and if anything at all is applied to the open wound afterwards, it is water, herbs, cooking oil or ashes.”
In addition to wounds caused to women, risks include an increase in the rate of stillbirths and in the occurrence of babies with low birth weight, the report said.
It is not clear how common genital cutting is in the rest of Iraq, because it has not been the subject of a comprehensive study.
A version of this article appeared in print on June 17, 2010, on page A10 of the New York edition.
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