| Front Page |
"Cruel And Useless"
Countries need to move beyond legal tools to societal attitudes to combat female circumcision
Anna Johnson
26 June – 2 July (Cairo Times)
On an average day, nearly 6,000 girls are circumcised in Africa, Pope Shenouda III, the Coptic Church’s patriarch of Alexandria, declared on 21 June, during a conference in Cairo aimed at the prevention of female genital mutilation (FGM).
"We must stop decisively this detrimental phenomenon," Shenouda said. "This tradition has no religious or ethical basis. It is a tragedy, and we have to do a lot to stop it."
Shenouda was one of several guest speakers, including first lady Suzanne Mubarak, who addressed delegates from 28 African and Arab countries as well as representatives from Europe and North America during the conference. Though each country faces varying rates of FGM–from as low as 18 percent of women in Tanzania to more than 90 percent in Somalia and Egypt–each are searching for ways to combat and eradicate FGM.
"FGM is cruel and useless," said European Parliament member Emma Bonino of Italy. "The time has come to say as you do here in Egypt, khalas."
By definition, female circumcision, or FGM, is the removal or alteration of female genitalia. It varies in severity from partial removal of the clitoris to complete removal of the clitoris and adjoining labia as well as the joining of both sides of the vulva together across the vagina. According to the World Health Organization, 120 to 130 million women worldwide are circumcised and approximately 2 million girls annually receive the operation. A majority of these girls, including Egyptian girls, receive the milder forms of FGM.
Though human rights advocates and medical experts have been arguing for years that FGM not only causes severe physical harm but psychological damage as well, many of the 28 mostly African countries where FGM is prevalent have been unable to significantly reduce their rate of FGM, despite a significant number of existing anti-female circumcision laws.
Conference organizers and participants hope the three-day conference, which brought experts from around the world together to coordinate and share legal and grassroots efforts, will begin to bridge the gaps between human rights, the law and deep-rooted traditions.
"There has been progress these past few days," said Fitnat Adjetey from the Ghana-based African Women Lawyers Association. "What’s left is literacy and getting the community aware. There’s a law, and now there’s a need to change."
As part of the European Commission-funded conference, delegates and organizers approved the Cairo Declaration on the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation, a document they worked on over the three days.
Included in the declaration are recommendations focusing on gender equality, legislation, children’s rights and criminal law. Though the declaration does not explicitly say what each country must do to eliminate FGM, it describes general provisions that should be reviewed. The declaration suggests that governments should formulate strategies and programs to enforce existing anti-FGM laws, that religious leaders should be informed on the negative impact of FGM and those who support ending it should be incorporated into outreach strategies, that medical practitioners who perform FGM should face maximum criminal penalties and should have their licenses revoked, and that women and girls should have legal remedies available, such as the right to bring civil action to seek compensation or protect themselves from undergoing FGM.
Despite the declaration’s emphasis on the legal side of FGM, conference participants recognized that without community advocacy and awareness that focuses on empowering women, the anti-FGM laws will not necessarily deter families from having their daughters undergo circumcision.
"We’re here today to tackle legislation and legal tools," Mubarak said in her address. "Yet a law is not enough and will not be the solution. We have to learn to implement the law."
For example, Egypt outlawed FGM in 1997. But recent statistics suggest that 97 percent of married women are circumcised, though the rate sinks to 86 percent among women aged 13 to 19. Furthermore, similar statistics say there is still a 75 percent acceptance of FGM amongst families who have young daughters. Though these numbers are lower for girls who have one or more parent who has received a secondary education, the rate is still one of the highest amongst countries with FGM.
Activists say that not only is the law not being enforced, many families still believe FGM is not violent and is necessary to maintain the chastity and marriage eligibility of their daughters.
Though religious leaders in Egypt have spoken out against FGM, including Shenouda and the grand sheikh of Al Azhar, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi–who both agreed at the conference the FGM does not have a religious basis–many Egyptians still believe FGM is their religious duty. Yemen, Djibouti, Egypt, Somalia and Sudan are the only predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East that practice FGM.
The only way then to combat FGM is at the family and community level, the activists say.
"The practice is illegal in Egypt but prevalent in communities," said Moushira Khattab, secretary general of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood in Egypt. "The compliance to FGM laws ends up in the family, so that’s where we need to target our efforts."
Khattab said the council is now embarking on a new campaign to make 60 villages free of FGM in Egypt by 2006. As part of the campaign, the council is working with 12 other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to bring awareness of the dangers of FGM to the grassroots level. Community, governmental, civil and religious leaders will work alongside NGOs to enhance community awareness and advocacy. Regular meetings will be held in the villages and girls and their families will be taught not only about circumcision but about other relevant empowerment issues.
Khattab said she hopes the campaign will be successful in changing people’s thoughts about FGM and this change will spread to other villages and areas of Egypt.
Other countries and regions of Africa have initiated similar programs, including Tanzania, which is launching an intensive national educational media campaign, and the Inter-Africa Committee, which is starting a similar Zero Tolerance to FGM campaign in countries such as Ethiopia.
In addition to local and national campaigns, the conference plans to spread its declaration and desire to eliminate FGM worldwide. In addition to delivering the Cairo Declaration to heads of state, national parliaments, the Africa Union, the Arab League and the European Union, representatives plan to deliver the document to the United Nations in New York this fall.
Home | Contact us | Links | Archives