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31 Jan 2012 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & women's rights
Articles
Child subjected to FGM now admitted to hospital
By Salome Kitomary, Ippmedia.com, 30 Jan 2012
A one- year child (name withheld) in Hai district, Kilimanjaro region is undergoing specialised medical treatment at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) due to over bleeding caused by an illegal circumcision.
The girl was circumcised secretly in Ormolili village in the district recently, according to information issued by the Social Network for Educating the Society on the effects of Female Genital Mutilation (Nafgem).
Women Expose Secret Genital Cutting Rite
by Zofeen Ebrahim, ipsnews.net, 30 Jan 2012
"It was a dark and dingy room, where an elderly woman asked me to take off my panties, made me sit on a low wooden stool with my legs parted and then did something…I screamed out in pain," recalls Alefia Mustansir, 40, of her childhood experience.
Her friend, Sakina Haider, remembers "putting up a good fight" before she succumbed. "I was told by my grandmother that I was being taken to the doctor to address burning in the genital area when soap went there while bathing!"
India: Unethical sterilisation camps run by NGO
International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations, 28 Jan 2012
In the beginning of January, a group of 53 women underwent surgical sterilisation in the village of Kaparfora in the Indian state of Bihar.
While there is a Primary Health Care centre in the vicinity, they were treated in a State-run middle school. The case is an example of unethical medical conduct, a violation of reproductive rights, and frauduleus practices in health care.
Uganda: Disabled and poverty stricken, the sad reality of FGM
By Joseph Wanzusi, RNW Africa Desk, 27 Jan 2012
Female circumcision, often referred to as female genital mutilation, affects an estimated 92 million girls in Africa aged 10 and above. In Uganda, the practice was officially banned in 2009 but it is still practiced in rural areas by groups such as the Sabiny in the east of the country.
Amina Ibrahim, aged 73, works for the Kapchorwa town council in the Sebei sub-region of Mount Elgon, eastern Uganda. But she used to earn a living as a local surgeon carrying out female genital mutilation (FGM).
Baby dies after being circumcised
By Enid Ninsiima, Monitor.co.ug, 24 Jan 2012
Grief engulfed residents of Kasese Municipality when a three-weeks old baby died after undergoing circumcision. The baby’s mother Dorah Muhindo, said she was instructed by the health workers at St. Paul’s Health Centre IV not to feed the baby from 6am since the operation was to be done at 7am but it took place at 11am.
A relative, who preferred anonymity, said the child was discharged at 5pm.
A medical source at the health centre said: “Imagine a three-week-old child spent more than eight hours without eating and no fluids were given to him, obviously his glucose levels reduced causing dehydration and eventually death.”
One girl's tortured story of circumcision
by Mimouna Mohamed, Somaliareport.com, 20 Jan 2012
Fatuma Haashi rests her right arm on the top of her veiled head as she tries to recount what happened to her on one day in the summer of 2005, when she inderwent to an archaic surgical procedure known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).
Today, it is exactly six years since she underwnt circumcision, but Fatuma, like many other young Somali girls, is still haunted by the experience.
Tanzania: Women Fight for Their Rights Over Land
by Orton Kiishweko, AllAfrica, 19 Jan 2012
Thirty six year old Grace Bbayu, a resident of Mvumi village in Dodoma lost her husband in 2002. All of a sudden she was widowed and thought her plight was one of the worst blows in her life. Little did she know more was yet to come. Still mourning her partner's loss, her property was confiscated by her in-laws, leading to months of suffering which drove her to the point of despair.
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