Italy
Italy Leads Way In Ending Female Genital Mutilation Across Globe
(2012-03-03) The following op-ed by Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, appeared in the Italian publication, NAZIONE - Carlino - GIORNO.
“Are you crazy, Fauziya?” Cecelia said. “You want to go back to Togo?”
Cecilia Jeffrey, also from the West African country, couldn’t believe her ears. Her friend and roommate Fauziya Kassinja was confessing she was ready to end her struggle to be the first woman in U.S. history to gain political asylum because she feared female genital mutilation.
Later Cecilia walked out of the shower and showed Fauziya how she had been changed forever. Fauziya remembered that Cecilia confronted her with the possibility that the same could happen to her: “She said to me, ‘Is this what you want to go back to? Do you know what this is?’”
Fauziya reflected: “I didn’t know. It didn’t look anything like female genitalia. Nothing. It was just like the palm of my hand. And the only thing you could see was a scar, like a stitch. And just a little hole. That’s it, no lips, nothing. I said, ‘You live with this?’ And Cecilia said, ‘All my life. I cry all the time when I see it. I cry inside. I feel weak, I feel defeated.’”
Up to 140 million girls and women have had their undergarments removed, their legs spread against their will, and their genitals hacked, usually with rocks, knives, scissors, razors or other cruel instruments. Anesthesia is rare. Common among its victims is the excruciating pain, hemorrhaging, the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis from unsterilized tools, complicated pregnancies and even death. Survivors suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and more. Every day, 8,000 girls, two weeks to 15-years-old, are at risk.
But thanks to the efforts of courageous local women, backed by NGOs, governments and the United Nations, progress is being made. Thousands of communities across Africa and the Middle East have decided to end the practice. Brave lawmakers have passed legislation making it illegal, and thanks to the advocacy efforts of Italy and many African countries, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the General Assembly have made ending female genital mutilation a priority.
I recently joined others at Grammy Award winner Angelique Kidjo’s concert to call attention to female genital mutilation (FGM). Italy has long been a leader in the fight against this practice. The concert was the brainchild of Ambassador Cesare Maria Ragaglini and is another example of the creative ways that Italian advocacy is creating change.
Successful efforts to curb the practice must include:
1) More healthcare practitioners educating patients about the harmful effects of female cutting. According to the UN, those who have undergone FGM run a significantly greater risk of requiring a Caesarean section, episiotomy, and post-partum hemorrhage. Both maternal and infant mortality increases to FGM mothers.
2) More leaders and highly respected agents of change engaging the community. These women and men carry enormous weight and their embrace of favoring basic rights over traditional practices matter. Religious leaders who have preached against FGM at Church on Sunday or the Mosque on Friday have made significant inroads in stopping the practice. There is a common belief that FGM is an important religious practice, but it is not cited in the Bible or Koran.
3) More communities collectively expressing a resolve to end the practice. In many communities, FGM is regarded as necessary in order to for a girl to be accepted as suitable for marriage. Communities that embrace the rights to health, dignity and bodily integrity are more successful when they publicly declare their abandonment of FGM.
4) Healthcare professionals not legitimizing the practice by agreeing to administer it in a hospital. A disturbing trend over the past several decades has been the “medicalization of FGM”. In response to the adverse health consequences of traditional methods, many have sought FGM in hospital or clinical settings. Healthcare workers should explain the grievous health consequences of the practice and refuse to take part.
5) More media coverage playing a critical role in eliminating FGM. Television, radio, billboard, print, and the arts—music, plays and more -- have had a tremendous positive impact in eliminating FGM.
Making FGM illegal makes explicit the state’s disapproval of the practice, allows for compensation to victims, and for agents of the state to hold perpetrators accountable for violence against women. It acts as a deterrent to practitioners and a source of legitimization for those who seek to abandon the practice.
When my eleven year old daughter, Cara, heard Fauziya’s account, she wrote the following poem:
Female genital mutilation
Looks like it really hurts.
Ouch! Stop it!
Indeed. Let us all work together to stop it.
DonneDaSalvare
