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Open Democracy: Embracing shame: turning honour on its head
14 February 2014. The challenge that embracing shame poses to the longstanding perversion of honour, is the struggle for women’s human rights – the realisation of which will result in the entire community’s advancement and healing.
The social construct and custom of honour maintains order for many societies in the middle east and Africa, south and central Asia, and the worldwide diaspora of these diverse communities. A woman, the physical manifestation of honour, embodies this involuntary burden through her every day actions and decisions – or lack thereof – from the moment she takes her first breath until the day she dies. (more…)
Far East clinics offer genital mutilation to UK girls BBC News
16.2.2014. A British reporter calls up clinics in Singapore asking if she can have her daughter mutilated there. Yes, she can, for 35$. Another reason why our struggle in Asia is so important: Parents may perceive the “service” in Singapore as clean and professional and not understand that this is ruining their daughters life just as well.
httpv://youtu.be/x2xIkl-R884
Cleric supports Battle against Female Genital Mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan
February 10, 2014
SULÊMANÎ, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— For many years, people have believed that practicing of female genital mutilation (FGM) is required by Islamic religion, and that is why the majority of people, especially in towns and villages in KRG provinces, adhere to the practice.
However, a well-known Kurdish Islamic scholar recently issued a Fatwa “a ruling on a point of Islamic law given by a recognized authority” against the practice. Mustafa Zalmi says that not only does FGM have nothing to do with Islam, but, “Practicing FGM is taboo.” According to a report by the Gatestone Institute, Zalmi, “ He argued that as FGM is absent from Mecca and Medina, where the Islamic revelation was received and the early Muslim community was organized, there is no justification for its existence either there or in remote places such as Iraqi Kurdistan.”
(more…)
Maledives: Cleric says FGM required by Islam
10.2.2014. Minivan News recently reported that Mohamed Iyaz Abdul Latheef, Vice President of the Maldives Fiqh Academy, believes female circumcision is obligatory in Islam. “The Prophet (PBUH) said: ‘Five things are part of the fitrah [nature] – circumcision, shaving the pubes, trimming the moustache, cutting the nails and plucking the armpit hairs.’ The circumcision in this hadith applies to both men and women,” Iyaz said. Read full article
Joint forces against FGM in Asia and the Middle East
11.2.2014. By Stop FGM Middle East
This year’s statements on Febuary 6th, the Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM, differed positivly from previous years. Several organizations and state agencies acknowledged that female genital mutilation exists in Asia. USAID mentioned in their statement besides Indonesia, Malaysia, Iraq also the new evidence found in the Gulf States. (So we happily assume that they read our website!). Very encouraging is also that the German section of terre des femmes started a call to end FGM in Indonesia. It is also of great value that the regional offices for the Arab region for UNFPA and UN Women issued a joint statement. We are hopefull that we will achieve our goal with joint forces: To elminate FGM in the Middle East and Asia.
Feb 6th: Many media reports on our work and FGM in Asia
7.2.2014. by Stop FGM Middle East
On February 6th, the eleventh international Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation, a number of media outlets have picked up on the topic of Female Genital Mutilation in Asia. Many non-governmental und international organizations tackling FGM, including the World Health Organization, still don’t mention the existence of FGM in many Asian countries. Breaking the silence is a first step to saving millions of girls in these countries from being mutilated. WADI and Hivos stressed this in their press declaration on this year’s February 6th. Therefore, we are happy that many journalists have now brought out this message. In several cases Stop FGM Middle East and WADI were able to provide information.
Al Jazeera Turkey filming in Wadi’s office in Iraq with Thomas von der Osten-Sacken and Souaad Abdelrahman explaining the Anti-FGM program
Al Jazeera Turkey came to Wadi’s office in Suleymania in North Iraq and spoke with victims of FGM. The film also describes the situation in Iraqi Kurdistan and the successful campaign against FGM.
De Vokskrant, the largest newspaper of the Netherlands also reported on the work of Wadi in Iraqi Kurdistan on February sixth. On February 7th, they ran a long story on FGM in Indonesia, underlining the importance to stop ignoring the brutal tradition in Asia. (more…)
Indonesia: Fighting Female Genital Mutilation
CNN, 6.2.2014. Many Indonesian Muslims carry out the procedure of FGM as part of their religion without questioning. Yet, there are some Muslims who take a stand against FGM in Indonesia. CNN made a short documentary about FGM in Indonesia. Watch here
The Deepest Cut
Y-Magazin, Oman, 5.2.2014. It’s a practice that is banned in Oman’s hospitals, yet female circumcision is being carried out on babies and young girls across the Sultanate. Y investigates. Report by Kate Ginn
The painful memories are buried deep but not forgotten. Muna remembers the voice of her mother calling her.
“She was saying ‘I’ll buy you an ice cream and a yoghurt-filled chocolate’. I joyfully ran behind her in my green trousers and dress,” she recalls. “We walked into dark roads further than the shop. God, I will never forget how sickening and awful that place was.”
Muna was not going to the store for sweets. Her mother was taking her to be circumcised, as she herself had been at the same age.
Eminent Saudi Cleric: Female Genital Mutilation a ‘Noble Act’
4.2.2014. Sheikh Mohamad Alarefe recently tweeted his sentiments favoring mutilating women to close to 8 million of his followers on Twitter.
Sheikh Mohamad Alarefe is a popular Saudi Arabian Islamic theologian and a professor at the King Saud University. A recent “tweet” to his almost 8 million followers on his Twitter account stated: “Circumcision [FGM] is a noble act to do to women. There’s nothing wrong with doing it. Some religious scholars have issued fatwas that it’s not allowed because many that perform the circumcision cut too much and they cause damage to the woman.” Read full article
In Oman more than 80% of women could be mutilated – Results of a two-week field trip
Stop FGM Middle East, 3.2.2014. By Hannah Wettig
Oman is not on the map of countries where female genital mutilation is practiced. Neither the United Nations nor international NGOs have taken notice of FGM in the Gulf region – except Yemen. Yet, there are quite a number of reports about its existence in Oman and in most other countries on the Arabian Peninsula, some old from the 1960s, others are medical studies about cysts and other complications.
Stop FGM Middle East picked Oman for a first field trip to the Gulf region because of its relatively liberal political climate and the government’s concern for women’s rights.
Several Omani bloggers and journalists have written about FGM. The Ministry of Health mentioned it as a matter of concern. It was certainly a good sign that the issue was discussed openly – even if seldom.
From the different reports it was hard to assess how widespread the phenomenon really was. Some articles estimated a prevalence of 20% to 30%. Several authors assumed that FGM was mainly practiced in the Southern governorate of Dhofar with some pockets in the mountainous area in the North where a “pricking”-type was practiced. We were skeptical: Other reports hinted that FGM might be much more widespread than these authors believed. (more…)