English
ItalianoCampaigning for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, Democracy, the Rule of Law and International Justice
10 Jan 2012 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & women's rights
Articles
Egypt’s Women Find Power Still Hinges on Men
The New York Times, David D. Kirkpatrick, 09 Jan 2012
CAIRO — At first Samira Ibrahim was afraid to tell her father that Egyptian soldiers had detained her in Tahrir Square in Cairo, stripped off her clothes, and watched as she was forcibly subjected to a “virginity test.”
[...]
Nearly a year after Mr. Mubarak’s ouster, Ms. Ibrahim’s story in many ways illustrates the paradoxical position of women in the new Egypt. Emboldened by the revolution to claim a new voice in public life, many are finding that they are still dependent on the protection of men.
[...]
Even now, women have almost no leadership roles in the various activists groups that formed out of the original protests that ousted Mr. Mubarak and so far women have fewer than 10 of the roughly 500 seats in Parliament. The electoral debates have featured scant mention of women’s issues — from the pervasiveness of genital cutting to legally sanctioned employment discrimination, despite official statistics showing that a third of Egyptian households depend on female earners.
Mutilations genitales : Le Sénégal veut accélérer l’abandon de l’excision
Le Soleil Online, Serigne M.S. Cisse, 04 Jan 2012
Un Plan d’action national 2010-2015 pour l’accélération de l’abandon total de l’excision est en cours d’exécution, selon un document du ministère de la Petite enfance parvenu à notre rédaction. L’Etat du Sénégal veut encourager les populations à tourner le dos à cette pratique.
«Face à ce défi, le gouvernement du Sénégal, sous l’impulsion de la Société civile et du Mouvement associatif féminin, a eu à engager la lutte contre ce fléau dès 1970», a dit Mme Ndèye Khady Diop, ministre d’Etat, ministre de la Petite l’enfance.
Le Comité inter-africain de lutte contre les mutilations génitales préoccupé par le cas de la Guinée
Afriquinfos, 04 Jan 2012
Le Directeur exécutif du Comité inter-africain de lutte contre les pratiques néfastes pour la santé des femmes et des enfants, Dr Mory Sanda Kouyaté, est en séjour de travail à Conakry, capitale guinéenne où l'excision est encore une pratique courante, a rapporté la radio nationale mardi.
Read More
Gambia. FGM campaign gains momentum in CRR
The Daily Observer, 03 Jan 2012
The campaign to eradicate Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has taken roots in The Gambia through raising awareness and building consciousness amongst the people. The Gambia Committee on Traditional Practices affecting the health of Women and Children (GAMCOTRAP) has recently completed a series of training and information campaign activities held in Janjangbureh, Sami Karantaba Tabokoto and Chamen Nainija, all in the Central River Region north.
Read More
Gambians told female circumcision is not religious obligation
TrustLaw, George Fominyen, 03 Jan 2012
A number of religious leaders in Gambia have called for a ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) which is widely seen as an obligation for Muslim women in the country. Imams and traditional chiefs have joined women’s groups in calling for a law against FGM, which they say puts women’s reproductive health at risk.
Read More
Sudan Women's Advisory board 'seeks to improve health among females'
FIGO - Inernational Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 03 Jan 2012
The Darfurian Women's Advisory board in Sudan is trying to improve wellbeing and satisfaction among the female population, including maternal and newborn health.
Among the work done by the advisory board includes the recent launch of a programme to provide a midwife in every village of the region, as well as raise awareness of issues like the dangers of female genital mutilation.
Tanzania. New constitution must recognise gender equality
IPP Media, Gadiosa Lamtey, 31 Dec 2011
Tanzania is in the process of writing a new constitution. Activists, academicians, politicians, judges and ordinary citizens are all out in making sure that women are well placed in the new constitution, especially in the area of decision-making.
[...]
People would like the gender aspect to feature prominently in the new constitution. This is because women are the engine of development of many countries, including Tanzania. There have also been aspects of violation of women rights in the country and as such need a way of protecting their rights.
[...]
The constitution should strictly prohibit local traditions which do not take seriously aspects of gender violence in the country like the female genital mutilation (FGM).
PAKISTAN: Low awareness of hidden FGM/C practices
IRIN - humanitarian news and analysis, 26 Dec 2011
Karachi. In certain cafés close to medical colleges in Pakistan, and of course within the institutions themselves, students studying gynaecology speak of some unexpected sights they have seen.
“Recently, we examined a woman who complained of pain in her genital region. We were shocked to see when we examined her that she had suffered some mutilation of her private parts. I have read about these practices but I didn’t know they took place here,” Zeba Khan, a 4th year medical student, told IRIN.
Though female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) takes place, the practice is hidden, hardly ever spoken of, barely known about. The country, for instance, is considered to be “free” of FGM/C, like a number of other Muslim majority countries in the region
Read More
International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation 06 Feb 2011
HealthCanal.com, 21 Dec 2011
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) and Royal College of Midwives (RCM) are holding a joint event to include a panel of experts on FGM to mark International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation.
Read More