[violence] genital mutilation

DAKAR - Human rights campaigners who have been struggling for years to eliminate female genital mutilation (FGM) in West Africa got a boost this week as news emerged that a group of Muslim clerics and scholars in Mauritania had declared a fatwa, or religious decree, against the practice.

Though the Indonesian government banned female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) four years ago, experts say religious support for the practice is more fervent than ever, particularly in rural communities. A lack of regulation since the ban makes it difficult to monitor, but medical practitioners say FGM/C remains commonplace for women of all ages in this emerging democracy of 240 million - the world’s largest Muslim nation.

The dissemination of a Human Rights Watch report on 16 June 2010 on FGM, and the reaction by activists and NGOs to the report, ignited a controversy about the issue. Also, in the last couple of days and on 6 July 2010, the Association of Islamic Clerics in Kurdistan issued a “fatwa” on FGM in which parents [or guardians] of girls were given the choice of whether to genitally mutilate their girls.

A Senegalese court sentenced two women to six months in jail Thursday for circumcising a baby girl, rights watchdog Raddho said of a case that sparked clashes between religious protesters and police.
Women’s and children’s rights activists in the Sudan protest the annulment of an article that prohibits FGM/C.
Village chiefs, community members and women who perform female genital cutting have signed an agreement stating that girls in northern Kambia district will not undergo genital mutilation – or ‘cutting’ – before age 18.
D’après l’ONU, 94% des femmes et des jeunes filles de Sierra Leone ont subi une mutilation génitale.
This new website will be a resource to share documents and information about donor-supported work with a particular focus on sharing lessons learned and programs that support communities worldwide to enable them to abandon FGM/C within a generation.
The abduction and intimidation of four women journalists took place in the eastern city of Kenema on 6 February by members of a women’s secret society that practices female genital mutilation (FGM).
A mother tells how the type of genital mutilation practised in Somalia is full infibulation when the girls are about five to seven years old.
Syndiquer le contenu