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21 Feb 2012 - NPWJ News Digest on FGM & women's rights
Articles
UN Warns the Increase of Female Genital Mutilation in Mozambique
Crienglish, 20 Feb 2012
Following the entry of immigrants from different regions of the African continent where female genital mutilation is a practice, the United Nations warns of a possible increase of the practice in Mozambique.
Mozambique has been a destination of thousands of refugees, most of them from the Great Lakes which integrates countries that execute genital mutilation according to the United Nations, Radio Mozambique reported on Monday.
In Mozambique there are already references of regions where the practice has been reported, a source from the World Health Organization (WHO) in Mozambique, Alicia Carbonnel, said that the mutilation is classified in various grades.
US to launch Kenya centre of excellence on the international day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital mutilation
by Fayyaz Yaseen, News Pakistan, 20 Feb 2012
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is a traditional practice that ranges from nicking to total removal of the external female genitalia. An estimated 100 to 145 million women have undergone this procedure and at least 3 million girls are at risk of being cut each year, about 8,000 girls a day. Though no religion mandates the procedure, FGM/C is practiced across cultures, religions, and continents. It is practiced in 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, northern Iraq, Malaysia, and Indonesia, and new evidence is showing prevalence in other Middle Eastern countries, including Yemen, Iran, Syria, Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and parts of South Asia. The practice also can be found in Europe, the United States, Australia, and other countries in the West where immigrants bring their cultural traditions with them.
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Celebrating zero tolerance to female genital cutting
by Rose Moses, Champion Newspaper, 20 Feb 2012
Recently, precisely February 6, 2012, the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) was celebrated, during which the UNFPA executive director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, announced some encouraging findings in the abandonment of the practice. ROSE MOSES, in this report, takes a look at the harmful practice that endangers the health of young women and girls, especially in Africa
As the world celebrated International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C) February 6, encouraging findings by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), showed that social norms and cultural practices are changing, and communities are uniting to protect the rights of girls and women against the harmful tradition.
Tunisia protests Egypt sheikh who supports FGM
by Manar Ammar, BikyaMasr, 19 Feb 2012
Hundreds of Tunisians protested the visit of Islamic cleric Wagdy Ghonem near the capital Tunis after Ghonem’s statements stirred anger among in the country. Ghonem, who was visiting the country, said statements in favor of female genital mutilation (FGM), which angered Tunisians strongly and drove them to the street to protest.
The crowd held signs reading “Ghonem must leave,” “purify your mind and heart Ghonem” and “we don’t accept hate language.”
Ghonem, who began his visit over the weekend, successfully brought together different groups to protest his visit, including young men and women who were offended by his support of the controversial practice of cutting a young girl’s genitalia.
Political subjugation of women, a call for action
by Gertrude Adwoa Akuffo, Ghanaweb, 18 Feb 2012
From time immemorial, the lives of women have not been that of ease or resting but of incessant striving. The souls of women had been suppressed in acts like trokosi, infant betrothal widowhood rites, and female genital mutilation, name them. We are in a quiet revolution where there it is a noticeable trend in the number of women gaining financial independence as well as independence from such acrimonious acts.
That notwithstanding, great crimes are still being committed against women. Such events remain as wounds on our consciousness reminding us of battles yet to be fought and task still to be accomplished, according to Sir Winston Churchill. Just to talk about a few events, we are in a country where a lady journalist was brutally assaulted by operatives of the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) and nothing substantial nearing justice has been done about it. It is in this same country where a pregnant woman died in the hands of the BNI and authorities do not seem to care. We are in a country where presidential candidates make promises on campaign platforms to women with the prior intentions of not fulfilling them after elections. We are in a country where competent “Grace Bediako” has been asked to proceed on leave and nothing is being done about it.
Female genital mutilation rife in Egypt despite ban
BBC, 15 Feb 2012
In 2008 Egypt outlawed the practice of female genital mutilation, but as Newsnight's Sue Lloyd-Roberts reports in an article which contains graphic detail and which some readers may find disturbing, the ban has had little effect and the practice is still rife.
"Of course she must be circumcised," said Olla, referring to the timid 11-year-old girl sitting beside her.
I asked Olla if I could find out from the child herself, her daughter Raaja, who sat shaking with fear, what she thought.
"There is no need to ask her," her mother declared. "She doesn't understand what we are talking about."
