Fighting Female Genital Mutilation in Africa

In spite of laws against mutilation of females, this ill-treatment continues in many parts of Africa. Different organisations working against the practice, stress the need of thorough information on the damage this tradition generates on women. The practice tends to go underground when its only limitation rests on the law.

Female circumcision is frequently described as an "age-old Muslim ritual," when in fact it predates Islam and is even believed to be pre-Judaic. There is no mention of it in the Koran, and only a brief mention in the authentic hadiths, which states: "A woman used to perform circumcision in Medina. The Prophet said to her: 'Do not cut severely, as that is better for a woman and more desirable for a husband.'

Because of this still debated hadz'th, some scholars of the Shari school of Islam, found mostly in East Africa, consider female circumcision obligatory. 'I'he Hanafi and most other schools maintain it is merely recommended, not essential.

In the nineteenth century, women in the United States and Europe were sometimes circumcised because it was believed to relieve epilepsy, hysteria, and insanity. In Africa, FGM practises are mostly not related to Islam itself, although its prevalence is higher in predominatly Muslim countries. While FGM is not practised in Muslim Morocco, it is widespread in Sierra Leone (among Muslims and followers of traditional religions) and it is equally practised by Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Ethiopia.

Here are some extracts from the article

Female genital mutilation is prohibited by legal or administrative measures in at least 18 countries worldwide, Ms. Rahman continues. In Africa alone, nine out of 28 countries have enacted laws criminalizing female circumcision. That includes a decree by the Egyptian Ministry of Health which declares female circumcisions unlawful. That decree has been later backed by a court decision. In most cases penalties for female genital mutilation range from six months to life in prison. The earliest example of a law against female genital mutilation was in 1965, when Guinea passed a law against that practice.

While laws alone can not achieve that change, they are an important tool, says Ms. Rahman. The book, which provides a description of the legal status of laws on female circumcisions - also known as female genital mutilation - is unique in that it addresses the practice of female genital mutilation as a human rights issue. Ms. Rahman says 41 countries have addressed the issue of female genital mutilation in their laws and policies.

The book, which are the result of two years of collaboration between the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy and the Network, is one more tool to educate the public about female genital mutilation

Seven industrialized nations have enacted laws criminalizing the practice of female genital mutilation, she says. One of those nations is Australia, where six out of its eight states have criminalized the practice. In the United States, 15 of its states have criminal laws against female genital mutilation. There is also a federal law prohibiting the practice in the United States.

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sorry seems link doesn't work this way
http://www.afrol.com/Categories/Women/index_fgm.htm

Fight to End Mutilation Hits Gritty Juncture

Run Date: 02/20/06
By Meghan Sapp
WeNews correspondent

The international fight against female genital mutilation pushes African activists to a new juncture. After the ratification of an important African Union protocol, gritty local politics lie ahead.

BRUSSELS, Belgium (WOMENSENEWS)--Activists against female genital mutilation are already working in high gear this year as the issue reaches a breaking point in many countries.

On Feb. 6, UNICEF kicked off the fourth annual International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation with rallies throughout many of the countries where the practice is widespread including Senegal, Egypt and Sudan. The U.N. children's agency operates anti-mutilation programs in 18 of the 28 countries where the traditional practice exists.

more
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=2642

International Conference on FGM, Sept. 2004

http://www.emmabonino.it/campagne/stopfgm/nairobi/s_mwakwere.php

sorry, for not clickable links, today it's just doing some funny trick on me and redirects somewhere else instead of original posting

http://www.irinnews.org/InDepthMain.aspx?InDepthId=15&ReportId=62479

Female Circumcision: Weight of Tradition Perpetuates a Dangerous Practice
Maha Akeel, Arab News

JEDDAH, 20 March 2005 — Female circumcision is a very sensitive issue that is rarely discussed in Saudi Arabia because it is not practiced by the majority of the population. It is known, however, to be common in the Southern Region.

Doctors in all the hospitals and clinics around the country are mostly aware of the practice and the health problems associated with it, but there are neither statistics nor research into the phenomenon and very little effort at educating those involved.

Read the article about Doctor Nasr Khabbaz at Arabnews.com

http://www.reproductiverights.org/pdf/fgmhandbook.pdf

Roche please look at them and make extracts if you feel appropriate. I've been failing making clickable links. You could make them to those you consider important...

Female Genital Mutilation

by Muslim Women's League
January 1999

Until recently, the majority of the world's over one billion Muslims had scarcely heard of female genital cutting (also known as female circumcision and female genital mutilation (FGM)). When the subject began to receive international media attention, many Muslims responded with disgust, easily dismissing any possible connection between this practice and the religion of Islam.

Enhanced awareness of the cultural significance of FGM in some Muslim countries requires a more detailed look at the relationship of FGM to Islam. In July, 1997 the Egyptian government overturned a ban on the practice of FGM. This event was celebrated by some Muslim figures, particularly Sheikh Youssef al-Badri, an outspoken proponent of the circumcision of Muslim women. Later the ban was reinstated, an act celebrated now by feminists and under assault by a few Muslim activists, again, led by Sheikh al-Badri. For the general public, with only limited exposure to Muslims and Islam, the natural conclusion would be that the practice of FGM must somehow be part of the faith, since those who seem to be the most religious are the most ardent supporters. Unfortunately , this simply represents how the sexuality of women is used, under whatever philosophy or world-view, to perpetuate their subjugation.

Read the whole article at WMLUSA.org

Sure thing Inga. Bring em on lol.

Citing Islam Proves Effective in Curbing Female Circumcision in Africa| IslamToday / Agencies|

24 May 2007

Health activists in Sub-Saharan Africa who are trying to combat the prevalent custom of female genital mutilation have found that, in cases where the people engaged in the practice are Muslims, citing Islamic teachings can be an effective means.

“The guiding factor is always Islam,” says 34-year-old Maryam Sheikh Abdi, who grew up in a region of northeast Kenya where 98 percent of girls are believed to undergo the procedure, a genital mutilation sometimes called female circumcision.

Women believe “the pain, the problems, the bleeding – they are all God’s will.”

Health activists, finding that focusing on women’s rights is not working to persuade Muslims to stop performing the ritual, are increasingly using theology to make the case that the practice has nothing to do with religion. Abdi said that invoking Islam penetrates years of cultural indoctrination.

“Women don’t have to torture themselves. Islam does not require them to do it,” said Abdi, who underwent the procedure when she was 6 and was a college student by the time she realized it was not necessary from a religious viewpoint.

Read the article at Islamtoday.com