International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation (2)
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Friends, I appreciate that this issue is gaining spotlight in such an
important arena. However, this letter does not address a few points
that I think are very significant to the issue.
One is that it is not all men demanding this done to women. It is
mothers and grandmothers and women's societies in the villages. Women
who live in cities are becoming afraid to take their daughters, some
as old as 16, back to the village to meet their families for fear
that they will be circumcised by their grandmothers. This is not
purely a case of misogyny or repression of women on the part of men.
Two, just because it is outlawed in places such as Senegal and Burk-
ina Faso doesn't prevent it from happening to 80 - 90% of the women
(mostly rural). Who is going to tell on their grandmother and send
her to prison, especially in a place where age is revered? Burkina
Faso even has a help line number, to report cases, which it adver-
tises on TV. How many villages have phones in Burkina Faso or TVs? I
don't know if the message is making it to the villages.
I hope these two points are recognized when NGOs and parliaments
chose their battlegrounds.
And three, WHO is addressing it on the grounds of the health risks it
poses, usually from infection immediately after or the problems asso-
ciated later with childbirth, instead of as a human rights violation.
The latter occurs when the mutilation has been "stitched up" too
much, creating problems with the passage of the baby during child-
birth, often killing the mother.
Regards,
Lisa Minotti
mailto:Lminotti@ch2m.com
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