April 10, 2012
Pana and Wadi
Ekurd.net
For the first time, an empirical study proved that female genital mutilation is also prevalent in parts of Iraq beyond the borders of the Kurdish Region.
April 10, 2012
KIRKUK, Iraq's border with Kurdistan region, — WADI and the local women’s rights organization PANA have conducted an in-depth research about the existence and background of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kirkuk. They interviewed 1212 women above the age of 14 and asked each of them 61 questions.
Two years ago, WADI did a similar research in Kurdish Northern Iraq which revealed an alarmingly high prevalence rate of more than 72%. Around the same time, Human Rights Watch published a qualitative study which backs and complements WADI’s results. Meanwhile, after extensive protests and lobby efforts from activists and women’s rights groups (see notably the campaign STOP FGM in Kurdistan), the Regional Government has adopted a legal ban of FGM and other forms of violence against women and children.
Not so in Southern and Central Iraq, which also comprises the multi-ethnic, oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The public authorities assume that FGM is non-existent outside the Kurdish Region.
The new Kirkuk study proves this assumption to be utterly false. According to its findings, 38.2% of Kirkuki women live with the consequences of FGM.
With 65.4%, Kurdish women are the most affected ethnic group. Arab women hold 25.7% and Turkmen women 12.3%.
Focusing on the religious affiliations, 40.9% of the Sunnis, 23.4% of the Shi’ites and 42.9% of the Kaka’is are genitally mutilated. No Christians were found to be affected.
The FGM prevalence rate among girls under the age of 20 is a “mere” 15% which may indicate that the practice is about to decrease gradually. Among women aged 60-70, it is up to 80%.
When it comes to the reasons for the practice, the answers are evenly divided between “tradition” and “religion”, i.e. Islam.
In most cases, FGM means the amputation of the clitoris. Some women however – in the Arab-dominated countryside it is 21% – experienced more severe types,www.ekurd.net including the cutting of the inner and/or outer labia.
The Kirkuk findings prove that FGM is a common practice also among non-Kurds – Sunnis and Shi’ites alike. This data constitutes strong evidence for the assumption that FGM is prevalent throughout Iraq. Millions of women and girls are likely to be affected by these grave human rights violations.
Therefore, we call on the Baghdad parliament to address the issue as soon as possible, support public awareness and discuss further ways to counter female genital mutilation in Iraq.
The complete study will be published in June 2012.
For more information please contact us through the phone or email listed below:
Wadi e.V. - Association for Crisis Assistance
and Development Co-operation
Herborner Str. 62
D-60439 Frankfurt am Main / Germany
Phone:
Email: info@wadinet.de
Web: www.wadi-online.de
Wadi Office Sulaimaniyah/Northern Iraq Phone:
Pana Kirkuk Phone:
Stop FGM Kurdistan
www.stopfgmkurdistan.org
Published with cooperation with ekurd.net
To read the full article on the Ekurd.net website, click here
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Steps towards ending female genital mutilation in Mauritania is in progress
April 9, 2012
NOUAKCHOTT, Mohamed Abderrahmane (IPS) – A multi-pronged strategy to end female genital mutilation in Mauritania is making gradual progress, though campaigners acknowledge much remains to be done in a country where more than two-thirds of girls suffer excision. A 2007 Demographic Health Survey found that 71 percent of women and girls in Mauritania have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), carried out by traditional birth attendants on girls before they reach the age of five. The survey reported the reasons given in support of the practice were religion, aesthetics and the promotion of modesty. It also found that the practice was less common among better educated families.
Khatto Mint Jiddou, who heads the campaign against gender-based violence at Mauritania’s Ministry for Social Affairs, Childhood and the Family, told IPS that the initiative involves a wide range of people, including civil society activists, doctors and religious leaders. The national programme, supported by several development partners, includes lobbying for the adoption of a law criminalising excision, raising awareness of a fatwa (a religious notice) forbidding excision, and the setting up of regional offices to monitor the practice. In March, 35 excisors – including many from the central Tagant region, where an estimated 97 percent of girls suffer excision – publicly announced that they were voluntarily abandoning the procedure. Jiddou said the women had been convinced of the dangers of the practice by the explanations put forward by doctors and theologians.
Djeinaba Ba, a gynaecologist in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, told IPS that FGM causes pain and trauma, and often results in serious infections. Massive haemorrhaging, which can lead to death, also occurs frequently. Aziza Mint Meslem, a midwife and civil society activist working against FGM, said that girls who survive the harmful procedure only have more difficulties ahead. “Some infections create dysfunction in the external mucus membranes of the uterus, which prevents the passage of sperm to the uterus, thereby creating sterility,” she said. She added that the practice also provokes obstetric fistulas and haemorrhaging during childbirth. Religious leaders have also lent their voices to the campaign. Hademine Ould Saleck, the imam of the old mosque in Nouakchott, said that he and his colleagues issued a religious notice, or fatwa, forbidding FGM in 2010, based on the risks identified by doctors and taking into account the emphasis Islam places on the dignity of human beings. “We consider this practice, in its usual form, to be forbidden because of the damage it causes, and call on civil and criminal authorities to act against perpetrators,” he told IPS.
Saleck said that the fatwa issued by the Mauritanian religious community in 2011 received support from colleagues in eight West African countries: Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Chad. There are additional incentives for birth attendants to renounce FGM: although those who give up the practice do not receive any compensation, they will be prioritised in the allocation of loans for income- generating activities and given preferential access to literacy classes. But Meslem, who works with an NGO called the Mauritanian Association for the Health and Development of Women, says her experience in the field underlines the need for the adoption of laws specifically targeting FGM. She told IPS that twice in the past two years, she has come across cases of young girls who have died due to haemorrhaging after FGM. In each case, it was her NGO rather than the girls’ parents who alerted police; both times, the woman responsible was arrested, held for questioning for several days, but then released with no further action taken.
The midwife lamented the lack of legal sanctions against excisors in the Mauritanian penal code. “It’s a flagrant violation of the rights of girls, because international human rights law stipulates that every person has the right to the integrity of her body,” said Meslem. Gynaecologist Ba told IPS she has seen shifting attitudes recognising the harmful effects of FGM, early marriage and closely-spaced pregnancies. She observed, however, that the shift is noticeable among better-educated women living in cities and towns, and not among those who practice a nomadic lifestyle. Meslem too sees reasons for guarded optimism. “We are seeing a positive trend, even if this phenomenon, rooted in socio-cultural considerations, is far from being brought under control.”
NOUAKCHOTT, Mohamed Abderrahmane (IPS) – A multi-pronged strategy to end female genital mutilation in Mauritania is making gradual progress, though campaigners acknowledge much remains to be done in a country where more than two-thirds of girls suffer excision. A 2007 Demographic Health Survey found that 71 percent of women and girls in Mauritania have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM), carried out by traditional birth attendants on girls before they reach the age of five. The survey reported the reasons given in support of the practice were religion, aesthetics and the promotion of modesty. It also found that the practice was less common among better educated families.
Khatto Mint Jiddou, who heads the campaign against gender-based violence at Mauritania’s Ministry for Social Affairs, Childhood and the Family, told IPS that the initiative involves a wide range of people, including civil society activists, doctors and religious leaders. The national programme, supported by several development partners, includes lobbying for the adoption of a law criminalising excision, raising awareness of a fatwa (a religious notice) forbidding excision, and the setting up of regional offices to monitor the practice. In March, 35 excisors – including many from the central Tagant region, where an estimated 97 percent of girls suffer excision – publicly announced that they were voluntarily abandoning the procedure. Jiddou said the women had been convinced of the dangers of the practice by the explanations put forward by doctors and theologians.
Djeinaba Ba, a gynaecologist in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, told IPS that FGM causes pain and trauma, and often results in serious infections. Massive haemorrhaging, which can lead to death, also occurs frequently. Aziza Mint Meslem, a midwife and civil society activist working against FGM, said that girls who survive the harmful procedure only have more difficulties ahead. “Some infections create dysfunction in the external mucus membranes of the uterus, which prevents the passage of sperm to the uterus, thereby creating sterility,” she said. She added that the practice also provokes obstetric fistulas and haemorrhaging during childbirth. Religious leaders have also lent their voices to the campaign. Hademine Ould Saleck, the imam of the old mosque in Nouakchott, said that he and his colleagues issued a religious notice, or fatwa, forbidding FGM in 2010, based on the risks identified by doctors and taking into account the emphasis Islam places on the dignity of human beings. “We consider this practice, in its usual form, to be forbidden because of the damage it causes, and call on civil and criminal authorities to act against perpetrators,” he told IPS.
Saleck said that the fatwa issued by the Mauritanian religious community in 2011 received support from colleagues in eight West African countries: Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Chad. There are additional incentives for birth attendants to renounce FGM: although those who give up the practice do not receive any compensation, they will be prioritised in the allocation of loans for income- generating activities and given preferential access to literacy classes. But Meslem, who works with an NGO called the Mauritanian Association for the Health and Development of Women, says her experience in the field underlines the need for the adoption of laws specifically targeting FGM. She told IPS that twice in the past two years, she has come across cases of young girls who have died due to haemorrhaging after FGM. In each case, it was her NGO rather than the girls’ parents who alerted police; both times, the woman responsible was arrested, held for questioning for several days, but then released with no further action taken.
The midwife lamented the lack of legal sanctions against excisors in the Mauritanian penal code. “It’s a flagrant violation of the rights of girls, because international human rights law stipulates that every person has the right to the integrity of her body,” said Meslem. Gynaecologist Ba told IPS she has seen shifting attitudes recognising the harmful effects of FGM, early marriage and closely-spaced pregnancies. She observed, however, that the shift is noticeable among better-educated women living in cities and towns, and not among those who practice a nomadic lifestyle. Meslem too sees reasons for guarded optimism. “We are seeing a positive trend, even if this phenomenon, rooted in socio-cultural considerations, is far from being brought under control.”
To read the full article on the Newstime Africa website, click here
Monday, April 2, 2012
Female Circumcision Temporarily Stopped in Liberia
March 29, 2012
PRI's The World
Bonnie Allen
Traditional female leaders who operate a powerful secret society in Liberia have agreed to shut down their bush schools and stop female genital cutting, also known as female circumcision, for several years, while still rejecting any criticism of the cultural practice.
Mama Tormah, head zoe for the Sande Society and one of the most powerful traditional leaders in Liberia, has confirmed that she transferred traditional land over to the Poro Society for men this past November so that it can use the bush for its ceremonies and training. The women have been monopolizing the land since 2005 for their bush schools and the initiation ceremony of female genital cutting.
“We have given [the traditional land] to the men – it is their time now,“ Tormah told PRI, while sitting on her porch, dressed in a blue and yellow ‘lappa’ gown. The gray-haired grandmother never had the chance to learn to read or write, and said this suspension of activities will allow young girls to stay in school rather than being forced into the bush.
“When the time comes for the women [to resume operations], by that time, our children will be big big and willing to go.”
Tormah refused to discuss female genital cutting (FGC), but the land transfer effectively shuts down Sande bush schools and FGC – often called mutilation – for four years. The Government of Liberia, which has never taken a public position on the issue, is now seizing the opportunity to work with traditional leaders to phase out the cultural practice altogether.
“Government is saying this needs to stop,” declared Liberia’s newly-appointed Gender Minister, Julia Duncan Cassell, during a sit-down interview in her office. “The process is on in making sure that it’s stopped.”
In Liberia, two out of three teenage girls – sometimes younger – are pulled out of school and taken into the bush for several weeks or months for traditional training called “Sande bush”. The girls learn proper hygiene, hair braiding, basket weaving, and how to take care of their future husbands. As part of their initiation, part or all of a girl’s clitoris is cut off.
It happened to Kulah Borbor when she was 16.
“They will lay you down and sit here,” Borbor said, pointing to your chest. “[They] will tie your hands like this (over your head) and tie your face so that you will not see the instrument they will use.”
Borbor said her clitoris was cut off using a razor or knife, she’s not sure, while a group of women held her down. “It was a lot of pain. I can’t measure that pain with any other pain.”
Last year, a 17-year-old girl, Lotopoe Yeamah, allegedly died from severe hemorrhage after undergoing the practice in a small village in north central Liberia.
The 2007 Liberia Demographic and Health Survey, the most recent statistics, showed the prevalence of circumcision among Liberian women ages 15 to 49 is about 58 percent. The procedure is usually practiced by 10 of Liberia’s 16 tribes, and is reportedly intended to reduce sexual pleasure and, consequently, the likelihood that a woman will be promiscuous.
The Sande and Poro societies in Liberia forbid anyone from revealing their secrets. When a Liberian reporter, Mae Azango, recently published an expose on female cutting, she received threats and had to go into hiding. The societies are so powerful that membership is necessary for social, economic, or political influence in villages across two thirds of the country.
Likewise, despite international pressure, and a female President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian government hasn’t taken a public position against female genital circumcision. But with the moratorium on Sande bush, the Liberian government is now, for the first time ever, taking action at the national level.
“There has been a statement put out by the Ministry [of Internal Affairs] asking all of our mothers, our aunts, our sisters, to start to desist from such practices,” said Gender Minister Cassell, indicating that the Government of Liberia wants to abide by its obligations under international human rights laws.
She revealed that the government has been talking privately to traditional leaders for some time, and it has concluded that an outright ban would cause a backlash.
“You can’t just stop something that years and years ago your ancestors started. You have to be able to work along with [traditional leaders].”
Liberia is one of nine African nations with no laws banning the procedure. The recently passed Children’s Act states that Liberian children should not be subjected to “any unnecessary or uncultured practice” that inflicts physical pain, but the phrase “uncultured” is vague and undefined.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the government department that normally sanctions traditional practices, has been refusing permits to any Sande Society as of January 2012 according to Joseph Janga, assistant minister of culture. He wrote a letter to the traditional chiefs and zoes in December that diplomatically “requests” they stop Sande bush activities, but when interviewed by PRI, said he will dispatch inspectors in April to report any zoes who violate the “order”.
In August 2009, the United Nations committee overseeing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) criticized Liberia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs for issuing permits to practitioners of “female genital mutilation” and said it was “an explicit form of support for the practice and thereby undermine[s] any efforts to eliminate it.”
PRI's The World
Bonnie Allen
Traditional female leaders who operate a powerful secret society in Liberia have agreed to shut down their bush schools and stop female genital cutting, also known as female circumcision, for several years, while still rejecting any criticism of the cultural practice.
Mama Tormah, head zoe for the Sande Society and one of the most powerful traditional leaders in Liberia, has confirmed that she transferred traditional land over to the Poro Society for men this past November so that it can use the bush for its ceremonies and training. The women have been monopolizing the land since 2005 for their bush schools and the initiation ceremony of female genital cutting.
“We have given [the traditional land] to the men – it is their time now,“ Tormah told PRI, while sitting on her porch, dressed in a blue and yellow ‘lappa’ gown. The gray-haired grandmother never had the chance to learn to read or write, and said this suspension of activities will allow young girls to stay in school rather than being forced into the bush.
“When the time comes for the women [to resume operations], by that time, our children will be big big and willing to go.”
Tormah refused to discuss female genital cutting (FGC), but the land transfer effectively shuts down Sande bush schools and FGC – often called mutilation – for four years. The Government of Liberia, which has never taken a public position on the issue, is now seizing the opportunity to work with traditional leaders to phase out the cultural practice altogether.
“Government is saying this needs to stop,” declared Liberia’s newly-appointed Gender Minister, Julia Duncan Cassell, during a sit-down interview in her office. “The process is on in making sure that it’s stopped.”
In Liberia, two out of three teenage girls – sometimes younger – are pulled out of school and taken into the bush for several weeks or months for traditional training called “Sande bush”. The girls learn proper hygiene, hair braiding, basket weaving, and how to take care of their future husbands. As part of their initiation, part or all of a girl’s clitoris is cut off.
It happened to Kulah Borbor when she was 16.
“They will lay you down and sit here,” Borbor said, pointing to your chest. “[They] will tie your hands like this (over your head) and tie your face so that you will not see the instrument they will use.”
Borbor said her clitoris was cut off using a razor or knife, she’s not sure, while a group of women held her down. “It was a lot of pain. I can’t measure that pain with any other pain.”
Last year, a 17-year-old girl, Lotopoe Yeamah, allegedly died from severe hemorrhage after undergoing the practice in a small village in north central Liberia.
The 2007 Liberia Demographic and Health Survey, the most recent statistics, showed the prevalence of circumcision among Liberian women ages 15 to 49 is about 58 percent. The procedure is usually practiced by 10 of Liberia’s 16 tribes, and is reportedly intended to reduce sexual pleasure and, consequently, the likelihood that a woman will be promiscuous.
The Sande and Poro societies in Liberia forbid anyone from revealing their secrets. When a Liberian reporter, Mae Azango, recently published an expose on female cutting, she received threats and had to go into hiding. The societies are so powerful that membership is necessary for social, economic, or political influence in villages across two thirds of the country.
Likewise, despite international pressure, and a female President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the Liberian government hasn’t taken a public position against female genital circumcision. But with the moratorium on Sande bush, the Liberian government is now, for the first time ever, taking action at the national level.
“There has been a statement put out by the Ministry [of Internal Affairs] asking all of our mothers, our aunts, our sisters, to start to desist from such practices,” said Gender Minister Cassell, indicating that the Government of Liberia wants to abide by its obligations under international human rights laws.
She revealed that the government has been talking privately to traditional leaders for some time, and it has concluded that an outright ban would cause a backlash.
“You can’t just stop something that years and years ago your ancestors started. You have to be able to work along with [traditional leaders].”
Liberia is one of nine African nations with no laws banning the procedure. The recently passed Children’s Act states that Liberian children should not be subjected to “any unnecessary or uncultured practice” that inflicts physical pain, but the phrase “uncultured” is vague and undefined.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, the government department that normally sanctions traditional practices, has been refusing permits to any Sande Society as of January 2012 according to Joseph Janga, assistant minister of culture. He wrote a letter to the traditional chiefs and zoes in December that diplomatically “requests” they stop Sande bush activities, but when interviewed by PRI, said he will dispatch inspectors in April to report any zoes who violate the “order”.
In August 2009, the United Nations committee overseeing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) criticized Liberia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs for issuing permits to practitioners of “female genital mutilation” and said it was “an explicit form of support for the practice and thereby undermine[s] any efforts to eliminate it.”
Liberia’s Gender Minister said the next step will be to empower traditional zoes economically. Already, eighty “cutters” from two counties were trained in small business management in September 2011.
“If we don’t do something then these people will go back to where they came from. So we are going to go from county to county now and ask them, ‘Look, if we want them to do this, what are we going to give them in place of that?’ Because for some of them it’s their livelihood.”
As Mama Tormah sits on her porch, watching school girls in yellow uniforms cram into a nearby school alongside boys, she is both diplomatic and defiant.
“We know the country has changed. We are in modern days. So, we are changing the system small small until we reach to the end,” said Tormah. “But it can’t be the way they want it to happen, as quickly as they want it to happen. We’re not ready for people to say, ‘No more Sande’. We can’t do that. You will damage the country.”
To read the full article on the PRI website, click here
"This Needs to Stop": Tempers Flare over the Practice of Female Circumcision in Liberia
March 30, 2012
ThinkAfricaPress
Travis Lupick
ThinkAfricaPress
Travis Lupick
When Kulah Borbor’s daughter was 13 years old, she asked her mother if she could join Liberia’s secret Sande Society. Most Liberian women are members of the Sande, so her daughter’s request was nothing unusual. But Borbor, a gender-based violence officer with the West Point Women for Health and Development Organisation, immediately discouraged her daughter’s interest in the Sande.
“I told her, ‘What? You want to go join?’” Borbor recounted. “I took her in a room and I showed her.”
What Borbor shared with her daughter was one of the Sande’s open, but almost never spoken, secrets – that the society’s initiation includes female circumcision, otherwise known as female genital cutting (FGC), or female genital mutilation (FGM).
“I said, ‘That’s where they cut mine,” Borbor continued. “From that time, she hasn’t talked about it.”
Borbor went on to deliver a candid account of the day she was cut by the Sande. She was made to feel at ease, dressed in nice clothes and carried on a hammock into the forest. There, a group of older women lay her down, gently tied her hands and covered her eyes, and told her that she should prepare to sail over water.
“They tell you, ‘Do not be afraid, there is no reason for you to fret.’”
Borbor paused, and used a deep breath to skip over the details of the actual circumcision. Her expression turned grim: “There is no means for you to leave from there,” she said. “There is a group of women surrounding you, holding you. Only god can free you from there.”
Taking a stance
There are no thorough statistics on FGC in Liberia, but it is estimated that as many as two-thirds of the country’s women are circumcised, with most undergoing the World Health Organisation’s type II classification – the cutting of the clitoris and labia minora.
UNICEF has long maintained that FGC “violates girls’ and women’s basic human rights, denying them of their physical and mental integrity, their right to freedom from violence and discrimination, and in the most extreme case, their life”. Such international pressure has, in recent years, resulted in a number of African states passing legislation banning FGC. But it was not until this past week that the Liberian government took a position on the issue.
Following a storm of controversy spurred by local media coverage of the Sande and FGC, journalists were threatened, a public debate ensued, and the government finally took a position on the practice.
On March 26, 2012, Minister of Gender and Development Julia Duncan-Cassell went on the radio and stated that government is asking traditional leaders to “resist from FGM”. In an interview the following day, she reiterated that her office is “in the process” of ending FGC in Liberia.
“Government is saying, ‘This needs to stop,’” emphasised Duncan-Cassell. However, she conceded that cultural attitudes will not change overnight.
Sensitive topic
In Liberia, FGC is deeply rooted in the Sande Society, which, along with its male counterpart, the Poro, plays a significant role in the upbringing of much of the country’s youth, as well as Liberian culture as whole.
In his seminal work on religion in Liberia, The Mask of Anarchy: The destruction of Liberia and the religious dimensions of an African civil war, Stephen Ellis describes the Sande and the Poro as “corporations, controlled in each town by local councils of elders whose identity and whose rituals may not be divulged to outsiders”.
The societies exercise less influence now than they once did, but it is still to the Sande “bush” schools that many young Liberian women go to for instructions on proper traditions of respect, to learn how to run a household, and to prepare for marriage.
There is, of course, more to the Sande than the controversy surrounding FGC. There is also community and commemoration, for example. On a recent visit to Grand Bassa County, women were seen returning from the bush schools in a sort of graduation ceremony, racing through the streets on motorcycles, flailing their arms and legs in celebration while crowds danced and cheered their return. But it’s the Sande’s ritualistic circumcision ceremonies that have slowly caught the nation’s attention, and not to everybody’s satisfaction.
On March 8 – International Women’s Day – the Liberian daily ‘Front Page Africa’ published afeature on the Sande Society and FGC. The article’s author, Mae Azango, subsequently received a number of threats and, three weeks later, remains in hiding. The same week, activist Phyllis Nyuma-Kimba was speaking on FGC in the United States when her home in Monrovia was set on fire, allegedly in retaliation to her opposition to FGC. On March 26, journalist Tetee Gebro was confronted by a group of men outside the nation’s capitol building and threatened for sympathising with Azango and her work on female genital cutting.
Despite letters of protest by Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists, government and traditional officials’ responses to those acts of intimidation have been largely unsupportive. Blamo Nelson, Minister of Internal Affairs – which oversees Sande and Poro conduct – questioned whether Azango had actually received any threats, despite the fact that her editor and publisher have supported her claims. And Mama Tormah, head of all female zoes (traditional spiritual leaders), called those questioning the practice of FGC “prostitutes.”
The fight continues
In response, Azango, Nyuma-Kimba, and Gebro, have all insisted that they intend to continue their work against FGC.
“Children have been violated,” Azango emphasised. “I’m talking about babies being violated. They say that a girl should be 18 so that she can make the decision on her own. But they take children – five, six, seven, ten-year-old children – to the Sande bush and have them cut. Those children did not make their decisions on their own. So their rights have been violated.”
Gebro argued that in addition to FGC being a matter of human rights, the threats she and her colleagues have encountered have made the debate on cutting in Liberia an issue of free speech and freedom of the press.
“I understand the risks, but I think we’re doing the right thing,” she said. “We need to talk about the issue in this country. If a doctor tells us that it [FGC] is harmful, we have to speak about it because we are journalists, and we have the right to speak about it if it is harmful to people.”
Openly apprehensive about how the debate on FGC is moving forward in Liberia, the Minister of Internal Affairs nevertheless said that advocacy on this issue should continue.
“You’re talking about educating a nation to abandon its cherished heritage,” he explained. “Take time to be holy. Otherwise, you’ll destroy yourself before you even achieve your objective.”
To read the full article on the ThinkPressAfrica website, click here
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Turning up the volume: female genital cutting and music
March 19, 2012
RuthieT
Orchid Project
Three empowered and dynamic voices of today’s music scene have been using the power of their musical talents to reach out to thousands of people and raise awareness about female genital cutting. With unwavering voices, they are calling for international attention and change at the grassroots level. And, with vibrant, popular music on their side, people are listening. We take a look at our top three musical ambassadors for ending FGC.
Sister Fa
Sister Fa is a Senegalese hip-hop and urban soul artist and recent recipient of the prestigious ‘Freedom to Create’ Prize. She raises awareness about FGC in Europe and the UK and performs extensively in Senegal in order to engage local young people around this important issue. Her tour ‘Education sans Excision’ (Education without Cutting), is set to begin its third phase when she returns to Senegal this coming May with the support of Orchid Project. Sister Fa and her band will travel across the country – holding concerts, working with local artists, speaking on radio and television shows, and running school workshops. Through these efforts, Sister Fa expects to spread her message to over 15,000 young people.
Herself a cut woman, Sister Fa’s history and music hits a nerve amongst Senegalese youth. Young people not only feel as though they can relate to Sister Fa’s story, but they can also connect with the magnetic sound of her music. Her home village, Thionck Essyl, has now officially abandoned FGC largely thanks to Sister Fa’s previous tours and efforts in Senegal.
Her charisma on and off stage demonstrates the power of musicians to speak out loudly for social change. Sister Fa is a strong, inspiring role model for girls who want to grow up free from FGC. She has been called ‘game-changing, taboo-breaking and inspiring’. It is her vivacity and fearlessness to speak about a unspoken issue to a generation which make Sister Fa the perfect candidate to take on FGC in her home country.
Caroline Henderson
Recently listed as one of the most powerful black women in Europe, jazz singer Caroline Henderson is also raising her elegant voice in support of the cause. A UNICEF Ambassador for Denmark, Henderson strives to raise international awareness about violence against children. After earning critical acclaim in 2007 by winning the Danish Grammy for best recording, Henderson started headlining campaign events. During the ‘Day of the African Child’ celebration in Mozambique in June 2010, Henderson’s voice rang out alongside Mozambique’s top artists in advocating for children’s rights.
Returning to Denmark, Caroline Henderson took the issue of FGC in her stride. “Violence against children can be physical, sexual and emotional, and should be prevented by all means,” Henderson once explained. Working alongside Orchid Project Denmark Association, Henderson headlined a benefit concert in Copenhagen on International Day against female genital cutting this year. The event was attended by over 500 people. The audience were treated to a truly special evening as Caroline Henderson’s rhythmic melodies and powerful lyrics dazzled and inspired. Her voice has found a place in the international arena, and her words have brought much needed attention to the neglected issue.
Angelique Kidjo
In our list of motivating musicians, Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist Angelique Kidjo most definitely deserves a place. A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002, Kidjo has been listed by BBC as one of the African continent’s 50 most iconic figures, and one of the 40 most powerful celebrities in Africa by Forbes magazine. Kidjo is particularly passionate about the rights and wellbeing of women and girls. In 2009, in cooperation with the International Federation of Human Rights, Kidjo launched a campaign entitled ‘Africafor women’s rights.’ Since this time, she has been working to gain support and funding for girls’ education, maternal health, and the end of FGC.
At the Commission on the Status of Women held between February 27th and March 9th in New York City, Angelique Kidjo created a unique concert entitled ‘Raise Your Voice to End Female Genital Mutilation,’ with support from the Italian Mission, UNFPA, and UNICEF. The event was held in the packed United Nations General Assembly Hall at the UN Headquarters, where an estimated 2,500 NGO representatives and delegation members were in attendance.
The General Assembly Hall was never so alive. Hands clapping, audience members raised their voices alongside Kidjo’s, calling for an end to the practice. “What I want to try to do… is to pledge and to convince all nations of the United Nations to sign a resolution to ban the practice of female genital mutilation…We cannot live in a modern society with FGM still around!”Kidjo explained.
Listen to Angelique Kidjo’s concert at the UN Commission on the Status of Women from February 2012.
Music unites people
Music has a way of uniting people. We often feel empowered and motivated through song. Sister Fa, Caroline Henderson, and Angelique Kidjo have not only inspired interest in this critical issue from the grassroots to the international levels, but they have also fostered a sense of solidarity among us. Today, more than ever, we stand united in a common goal: to create a world free from female genital cutting. These three women are helping to make this world possible, and we thank them for that.
And watch this space – we are hotly tipping Malian born Fatoumata Diawara who has raised her voice to speak up against FGC, and just last week were sent this song by Kenyan hip-hop artist MC Kibo – it’s just as vital that men are singing up and speaking out about ending female genital cutting, too.
To read the full story on Orchid Project's website, click here
RuthieT
Orchid Project
Three empowered and dynamic voices of today’s music scene have been using the power of their musical talents to reach out to thousands of people and raise awareness about female genital cutting. With unwavering voices, they are calling for international attention and change at the grassroots level. And, with vibrant, popular music on their side, people are listening. We take a look at our top three musical ambassadors for ending FGC.
Sister Fa
Sister Fa is a Senegalese hip-hop and urban soul artist and recent recipient of the prestigious ‘Freedom to Create’ Prize. She raises awareness about FGC in Europe and the UK and performs extensively in Senegal in order to engage local young people around this important issue. Her tour ‘Education sans Excision’ (Education without Cutting), is set to begin its third phase when she returns to Senegal this coming May with the support of Orchid Project. Sister Fa and her band will travel across the country – holding concerts, working with local artists, speaking on radio and television shows, and running school workshops. Through these efforts, Sister Fa expects to spread her message to over 15,000 young people.
Herself a cut woman, Sister Fa’s history and music hits a nerve amongst Senegalese youth. Young people not only feel as though they can relate to Sister Fa’s story, but they can also connect with the magnetic sound of her music. Her home village, Thionck Essyl, has now officially abandoned FGC largely thanks to Sister Fa’s previous tours and efforts in Senegal.
Her charisma on and off stage demonstrates the power of musicians to speak out loudly for social change. Sister Fa is a strong, inspiring role model for girls who want to grow up free from FGC. She has been called ‘game-changing, taboo-breaking and inspiring’. It is her vivacity and fearlessness to speak about a unspoken issue to a generation which make Sister Fa the perfect candidate to take on FGC in her home country.
Caroline Henderson
Recently listed as one of the most powerful black women in Europe, jazz singer Caroline Henderson is also raising her elegant voice in support of the cause. A UNICEF Ambassador for Denmark, Henderson strives to raise international awareness about violence against children. After earning critical acclaim in 2007 by winning the Danish Grammy for best recording, Henderson started headlining campaign events. During the ‘Day of the African Child’ celebration in Mozambique in June 2010, Henderson’s voice rang out alongside Mozambique’s top artists in advocating for children’s rights.
Returning to Denmark, Caroline Henderson took the issue of FGC in her stride. “Violence against children can be physical, sexual and emotional, and should be prevented by all means,” Henderson once explained. Working alongside Orchid Project Denmark Association, Henderson headlined a benefit concert in Copenhagen on International Day against female genital cutting this year. The event was attended by over 500 people. The audience were treated to a truly special evening as Caroline Henderson’s rhythmic melodies and powerful lyrics dazzled and inspired. Her voice has found a place in the international arena, and her words have brought much needed attention to the neglected issue.
Angelique Kidjo
In our list of motivating musicians, Beninoise singer-songwriter and activist Angelique Kidjo most definitely deserves a place. A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2002, Kidjo has been listed by BBC as one of the African continent’s 50 most iconic figures, and one of the 40 most powerful celebrities in Africa by Forbes magazine. Kidjo is particularly passionate about the rights and wellbeing of women and girls. In 2009, in cooperation with the International Federation of Human Rights, Kidjo launched a campaign entitled ‘Africafor women’s rights.’ Since this time, she has been working to gain support and funding for girls’ education, maternal health, and the end of FGC.
At the Commission on the Status of Women held between February 27th and March 9th in New York City, Angelique Kidjo created a unique concert entitled ‘Raise Your Voice to End Female Genital Mutilation,’ with support from the Italian Mission, UNFPA, and UNICEF. The event was held in the packed United Nations General Assembly Hall at the UN Headquarters, where an estimated 2,500 NGO representatives and delegation members were in attendance.
The General Assembly Hall was never so alive. Hands clapping, audience members raised their voices alongside Kidjo’s, calling for an end to the practice. “What I want to try to do… is to pledge and to convince all nations of the United Nations to sign a resolution to ban the practice of female genital mutilation…We cannot live in a modern society with FGM still around!”Kidjo explained.
Listen to Angelique Kidjo’s concert at the UN Commission on the Status of Women from February 2012.
Music unites people
Music has a way of uniting people. We often feel empowered and motivated through song. Sister Fa, Caroline Henderson, and Angelique Kidjo have not only inspired interest in this critical issue from the grassroots to the international levels, but they have also fostered a sense of solidarity among us. Today, more than ever, we stand united in a common goal: to create a world free from female genital cutting. These three women are helping to make this world possible, and we thank them for that.
And watch this space – we are hotly tipping Malian born Fatoumata Diawara who has raised her voice to speak up against FGC, and just last week were sent this song by Kenyan hip-hop artist MC Kibo – it’s just as vital that men are singing up and speaking out about ending female genital cutting, too.
To read the full story on Orchid Project's website, click here
Monday, March 19, 2012
Kenya: Kisii NGO Vows to Stop FGM
March 16, 2012
Benson Nyagesiba,
Nairobi Star
Benson Nyagesiba,
Nairobi Star
A non-governmental organisation in Kisii will intensify campaigns against the outlawed FGM.
Stema Women Development Group is carrying out campaign to sensitise young girls to reject the practice and opt for alternative rites of passage. The organisation's chief programme officer Nyabuto Onyambu said there is need to strengthen the education of the girl child to enable her understand her rights.
Speaking to the press in his office Onyambu said outdated cultures like FGM are a violation of the rights of a girl child saying such practices must be eradicated from society at all costs. "We are not saying all cultures are bad, but what we want to eradicate FGM and embrace others rites of passage," he said.
He urged concerted effort by all stakeholders to curb the practice which is rampant in the area. He said the provincial administration and the police should arrest those found encouraging the practice. "The education of a girl child must be taken serious because it is through it that they will be fully aware of their rights and the health effects of undergoing through the practice," Onyambu added.
To read the full article on the AllAfrica,com website, click here
Stema Women Development Group is carrying out campaign to sensitise young girls to reject the practice and opt for alternative rites of passage. The organisation's chief programme officer Nyabuto Onyambu said there is need to strengthen the education of the girl child to enable her understand her rights.
Speaking to the press in his office Onyambu said outdated cultures like FGM are a violation of the rights of a girl child saying such practices must be eradicated from society at all costs. "We are not saying all cultures are bad, but what we want to eradicate FGM and embrace others rites of passage," he said.
He urged concerted effort by all stakeholders to curb the practice which is rampant in the area. He said the provincial administration and the police should arrest those found encouraging the practice. "The education of a girl child must be taken serious because it is through it that they will be fully aware of their rights and the health effects of undergoing through the practice," Onyambu added.
To read the full article on the AllAfrica,com website, click here
Friday, March 16, 2012
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION IS A VIOLATION OF WOMEN’S RIGHT; Says Gamcotrap Programme Coordinator
March 15, 2012
Sarjo Camara Singhateh
FOROYAA Online
During the celebration by European Delegation to the Gambia at the Alliance Francais Gambienne, the GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang-Sissoho , the guest speaker at the International Women’s Day delivered a paper on Female Genital Mutilation in the Context of Women’s Rights in the Gambia.
“It is another important day to bring attention to the situation of women in different parts of the world. We need to reflect upon the lives of rural women and how we inspire girls for a brighter and better future. Women and girls are exposed to many vices that affect their rights as females, one of which is Female Genital Mutilation – FGM. Therefore I would like to bring our attention to the issues of FGM in the context of Women’s Rights in the Gambia,” She stated“
In 2011 alone, using the Cluster Approach, 2,730 men, women and youths participated in 39 activities GAMCOTRAP had conducted, she said. She said thirty-two (32) of these activities were conducted outside the Kanifing Municipality and most of them in remote, rural and semi-urban areas of The Gambia where the prevalence of the practice is high”. She narrated that more importantly, over 80% of them called for a law to protect girls from FGM. “The advocacy for a law has gone far and GAMCOTRAP has been capturing the voices in a Draft proposal for a law against FGM taking into account the recommendations coming from the rural women in particular”. And this document is being drafted and will be submitted to the relevant Government institutions to take it to the next step,” she said.
GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang-Sissoho said the Gambia government is saluted for observing this day moreso for ensuring that the Gambia enacts laws to protect Children and Women’s rights.
“The Children’s Act 2005 and the Women’s Act 2010 are in the right direction to protect and promote the rights of women and girl-children”, Amie said.
“For twenty-eight years, efforts are being made to understand FGM in the context of women’s rights. One must first of all accept that women have rights and the bodily integrity is one of such rights, which FGM affects. The context of women’s rights starts with the rights of the girl-child and it is the responsibility of the State to protect the rights of its entire citizenry and in this case the rights of women and children from FGM.” She asserted.
Amie mentioned that there is resistance from some religious leaders who oppose the campaign to raise awareness that FGM is not a Religious obligation and women’s rights issues in general especially, if it is directed at empowerment of women. Some of them she said have influence over the public media, both TV and radio while Women’s Rights organizations fighting against FGM and promoting the rights of women are denied similar opportunities. “Yet most of these people in authority will call for the education of the masses and raising awareness. It should be acknowledged that while educating the people on women’s rights, the public media has an important role to play in providing equal access and opportunities to activists in raising the issues and responding to the debates.” Mrs Sissoho observed that it is through dialogue and debates on social issues that we educate each other on the rights of women and thus influence change of perceptions and attitudes towards women.
She stated that despite the resistance in the public media, direct community outreach has proven to be positive. NGOs have responded to the call to raise the awareness of people and a lot has been done in that area. Mass consciousness has increased about the negative impact FGM has on the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and children.
“In our community outreach activities, she said, FGM is situated in the context of women’s rights and we raise the consciousness of rural women in particular to realize that:
FGM is a Culture practice and that cultural practices can change when people realize that they outlived their value;
FGM is a not a religious obligation (Farda nor Sunnah) for Muslim Women; FGM affects the Health of Women and Children; FGM Violates the bodily rights and sexuality of women; FGM is Violence against Women and Children and Allah the Creator of the women’s body designed it for a purpose and it should be left intact for such functions”.
“Understanding the dynamics of the decision making processes, GAMCOTRAP takes the Cluster approach in which communities who share cultural ties with the same circumcisers are brought together to reach consensus to protect their girl-children. This approach made it possible for representatives from 564 communities in three regions to support their Circumcisers to stop the practice of FGM.”
She pointed out that raising consciousness amongst rural women has over the years led to three ‘Dropping of the Knife’ celebrations and the most recent was in 2011 and it took place in the Lower River Region. “To date, GAMCOTRAP has recorded ninety-eight Circumcisers that have dropped their knives and have been supported with grants to engage in alternative livelihood strategies we called Alternative Employment Opportunities - AEO to earn small income instead of cutting girls. They have been recognized for other important roles they play in ensuring social cohesion and development of their communities.” She noted
GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang-Sissoho continued to say that, girl-children and women are not completely protected by the laws of the Gambia against FGM; that despite the fact that the Gambia has ratified and domesticated most International and Regional Conventions and Protocols, the legal protection of girls and women from the practice of FGM has been removed from both the Children and Women’s Acts; thus making the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter in particular irrelevant to the commitments of The Gambia.
GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang-Sissoho in her key note address noted that the role of NGOs is to advocate; that it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that laws and policies are in place and in this case, there is a specific call for a law to ban FGM in the Gambia. There is no need for ambiguity about FGM and hiding it under the general guise of ‘harmful traditional practices’. It should be specific just like early and force marriage or rape has been clearly mentioned in the laws of the Gambia. Not mentioning FGM underrates its importance in the development agenda.
“The challenges in addressing FGM in the context of Women’s Rights are not only denying access to the public media, but even Women’s Human Rights Defenders are being put at risk to silence them. It is time that the government takes stock on how its policies on women and children are being challenged by the very institutions that are supposed to contribute to their effective implementation,” She stated
“Let me give an example of a recent situation justifying the need for a law against FGM. This year, 44 girls were subjected to FGM in a particular community and two of them bled profusely and ended up in Bansang hospital, the girls suffered. The parents did not want to take the girls to the hospital but when they realized it was not the witches but the loss of blood, they had no choice but to seek help from the hospital,” she said. Amie Bojang-Sissoho noted that when the cases were eventually reported, FGM was not mentioned as the root cause because of fear to be punished by law. It was reported that Malaria was the cause of the anaemia.” Many of such cases make it difficult to get the statistics on the direct immediate impact of FGM on girls. She also said the difficulties of child birth are not immediately recognized by most of the health workers as having something to do with the scars and in some cases keliod caused by FGM.” She stated.
“If the adults of today are to inspire girls in the future, she opined that we have to take responsibility to protect the women of tomorrow, who are the girls of today. The girls of today she said have to be inspired to say no to FGM and defend their rights. Without being pessimistic, let us celebrate the gains made so far and build on them” the GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang Sisoho concludes.
To read the full article on the FORAYAA website, click here
Sarjo Camara Singhateh
FOROYAA Online
During the celebration by European Delegation to the Gambia at the Alliance Francais Gambienne, the GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang-Sissoho , the guest speaker at the International Women’s Day delivered a paper on Female Genital Mutilation in the Context of Women’s Rights in the Gambia.
“It is another important day to bring attention to the situation of women in different parts of the world. We need to reflect upon the lives of rural women and how we inspire girls for a brighter and better future. Women and girls are exposed to many vices that affect their rights as females, one of which is Female Genital Mutilation – FGM. Therefore I would like to bring our attention to the issues of FGM in the context of Women’s Rights in the Gambia,” She stated“
In 2011 alone, using the Cluster Approach, 2,730 men, women and youths participated in 39 activities GAMCOTRAP had conducted, she said. She said thirty-two (32) of these activities were conducted outside the Kanifing Municipality and most of them in remote, rural and semi-urban areas of The Gambia where the prevalence of the practice is high”. She narrated that more importantly, over 80% of them called for a law to protect girls from FGM. “The advocacy for a law has gone far and GAMCOTRAP has been capturing the voices in a Draft proposal for a law against FGM taking into account the recommendations coming from the rural women in particular”. And this document is being drafted and will be submitted to the relevant Government institutions to take it to the next step,” she said.
GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang-Sissoho said the Gambia government is saluted for observing this day moreso for ensuring that the Gambia enacts laws to protect Children and Women’s rights.
“The Children’s Act 2005 and the Women’s Act 2010 are in the right direction to protect and promote the rights of women and girl-children”, Amie said.
“For twenty-eight years, efforts are being made to understand FGM in the context of women’s rights. One must first of all accept that women have rights and the bodily integrity is one of such rights, which FGM affects. The context of women’s rights starts with the rights of the girl-child and it is the responsibility of the State to protect the rights of its entire citizenry and in this case the rights of women and children from FGM.” She asserted.
Amie mentioned that there is resistance from some religious leaders who oppose the campaign to raise awareness that FGM is not a Religious obligation and women’s rights issues in general especially, if it is directed at empowerment of women. Some of them she said have influence over the public media, both TV and radio while Women’s Rights organizations fighting against FGM and promoting the rights of women are denied similar opportunities. “Yet most of these people in authority will call for the education of the masses and raising awareness. It should be acknowledged that while educating the people on women’s rights, the public media has an important role to play in providing equal access and opportunities to activists in raising the issues and responding to the debates.” Mrs Sissoho observed that it is through dialogue and debates on social issues that we educate each other on the rights of women and thus influence change of perceptions and attitudes towards women.
She stated that despite the resistance in the public media, direct community outreach has proven to be positive. NGOs have responded to the call to raise the awareness of people and a lot has been done in that area. Mass consciousness has increased about the negative impact FGM has on the sexual and reproductive health rights of women and children.
“In our community outreach activities, she said, FGM is situated in the context of women’s rights and we raise the consciousness of rural women in particular to realize that:
FGM is a Culture practice and that cultural practices can change when people realize that they outlived their value;
FGM is a not a religious obligation (Farda nor Sunnah) for Muslim Women; FGM affects the Health of Women and Children; FGM Violates the bodily rights and sexuality of women; FGM is Violence against Women and Children and Allah the Creator of the women’s body designed it for a purpose and it should be left intact for such functions”.
“Understanding the dynamics of the decision making processes, GAMCOTRAP takes the Cluster approach in which communities who share cultural ties with the same circumcisers are brought together to reach consensus to protect their girl-children. This approach made it possible for representatives from 564 communities in three regions to support their Circumcisers to stop the practice of FGM.”
She pointed out that raising consciousness amongst rural women has over the years led to three ‘Dropping of the Knife’ celebrations and the most recent was in 2011 and it took place in the Lower River Region. “To date, GAMCOTRAP has recorded ninety-eight Circumcisers that have dropped their knives and have been supported with grants to engage in alternative livelihood strategies we called Alternative Employment Opportunities - AEO to earn small income instead of cutting girls. They have been recognized for other important roles they play in ensuring social cohesion and development of their communities.” She noted
GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang-Sissoho continued to say that, girl-children and women are not completely protected by the laws of the Gambia against FGM; that despite the fact that the Gambia has ratified and domesticated most International and Regional Conventions and Protocols, the legal protection of girls and women from the practice of FGM has been removed from both the Children and Women’s Acts; thus making the ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter in particular irrelevant to the commitments of The Gambia.
GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang-Sissoho in her key note address noted that the role of NGOs is to advocate; that it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that laws and policies are in place and in this case, there is a specific call for a law to ban FGM in the Gambia. There is no need for ambiguity about FGM and hiding it under the general guise of ‘harmful traditional practices’. It should be specific just like early and force marriage or rape has been clearly mentioned in the laws of the Gambia. Not mentioning FGM underrates its importance in the development agenda.
“The challenges in addressing FGM in the context of Women’s Rights are not only denying access to the public media, but even Women’s Human Rights Defenders are being put at risk to silence them. It is time that the government takes stock on how its policies on women and children are being challenged by the very institutions that are supposed to contribute to their effective implementation,” She stated
“Let me give an example of a recent situation justifying the need for a law against FGM. This year, 44 girls were subjected to FGM in a particular community and two of them bled profusely and ended up in Bansang hospital, the girls suffered. The parents did not want to take the girls to the hospital but when they realized it was not the witches but the loss of blood, they had no choice but to seek help from the hospital,” she said. Amie Bojang-Sissoho noted that when the cases were eventually reported, FGM was not mentioned as the root cause because of fear to be punished by law. It was reported that Malaria was the cause of the anaemia.” Many of such cases make it difficult to get the statistics on the direct immediate impact of FGM on girls. She also said the difficulties of child birth are not immediately recognized by most of the health workers as having something to do with the scars and in some cases keliod caused by FGM.” She stated.
“If the adults of today are to inspire girls in the future, she opined that we have to take responsibility to protect the women of tomorrow, who are the girls of today. The girls of today she said have to be inspired to say no to FGM and defend their rights. Without being pessimistic, let us celebrate the gains made so far and build on them” the GAMCOTRAP Programme Coordinator, Amie Bojang Sisoho concludes.
To read the full article on the FORAYAA website, click here
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