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Press Review
Weekly Standard: Confronting FGM in Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan
17.6.2015. By Irfan Al-Alawi and Stephen Schwartz. Female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) exists in the Islamic Republic of Iran even while the redoubt of clerical dictatorship is absent from a recent survey of FGM in 29 countries, published by UNICEF. The UN agency examined states in Africa and the Middle East. The UNICEF document did not specify them in full, but named eleven. Four – Djibouti, Egypt. Guinea, and Somalia – are Muslim, and feature “universal” incidence of FGM, or a rate above 90 percent of all women. (more…)
Rudaw: Kurdish FGM campaign seen as global model
16.6.2015. By Judit Neurink
SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The media campaign that helped lead to the 2011 ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) in the Kurdistan Region is being looked to as an example elsewhere in the region, according to the anti-FGM activist behind the plan.
Thomas von der Osten-Sacken, general manager of the German-Iraqi NGO Wadi, told Rudaw the Kurdish FGM campaign is now being copied in neighboring Iran.
“People look now at Kurdistan as an example. Our Kurdish material is being copied into Farsi. The awareness material is translated and gets used officially. The Stop-FGM-Iran homepage is online,” he said.
Guardian: Female genital mutilation practised in Iran, study reveals
4.6.2015. The first authoritative study into female genital mutilation in Iran has found the practice is being carried out in at least four major provinces while officials are silent on the matter.
According to research by social anthropologist Kameel Ahmady released on Thursday, FGM is more prevalent in the southern province of Hormozgan and its nearby islands (Qeshm and Hormuz) than in any other parts of the country. (more…)
Egypt sees drop in female genital mutilation
1.6.2015 Egypt has seen a decrease in the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) by 13 percent according to a new study conducted by the 2014 Egypt Demographic Health Survey.
The survey found that despite the high occurrence of FGM in women between the ages of 15-49 years old (over 90 percent), the practice of FGM on girls aged between 15-17 years old has declined since the 2008 survey. (more…)
Iranian singer about FGM and child marriage
27.5.2015. Watch this heartbreaking video by the Iranian Kurdish singer Chiman Rahmani. Female Genital Mutilation is still practiced on girls in Iran today. It is prevalent in the Southern province of Hormozkhan and in the Western provinces Kurdistan, Kermansheh and some areas of Western Azherbaidshan. Official statistics report thousands of cases of child marriage. Chiman Rahmani is herself from Kermansheh.
Emirates Women: FGM In The Middle East | Investigating Cutting Customs
28.4.2015. By Lindsey Stevens
Emirates Woman investigates the culturally sensitive issue of female genital mutilation, and asks what is being done to put an end to this practice in the Middle East.
The preparations have been made. In a makeshift clinic in an old school hall, tables dressed with sheets and pillows serve as hospital beds. This isn’t a blood donation centre, or the latest round of vaccinations for schoolchildren. It’s a clinic in Indonesia where girls are taken to be circumcised. The coming-of-age practice is performed in many countries across the world. For some, it’s perceived as tradition, for others beautification, and many believe it’s intertwined with religious beliefs. According to official bodies such as the United Nations and the World Health Organisation, it’s a human rights violation broadly described as female genital mutilation (FGM), or cutting. (more…)
Al Monitor: KRG looks to enhance protection of women, children
20.4.2015. by Mohammed Salih
ERBIL — Activists and government agencies in Iraqi Kurdistan have drafted amendments over the past few months to the autonomous region’s existing law combating domestic violence, introducing measures aimed at better protection of women’s and children’s rights. (more…)
Global Post: The custom of female circumcision remains good business in Indonesia
15.4.2015. by Marie Dhumieres
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Komariah says she’ll show us how female circumcision is done. She grabs a tangerine on the kitchen table, peels it and takes out a segment. She picks up a huge knife from a shelf. Then she bursts out laughing.
“I’m just kidding,” she says, before taking a much smaller pair of scissors. She sits at the table, holds the tangerine segment up, and carefully makes a small incision at the top. “That’s it!” She laughs again. Her daughter watches, shyly smiling. She was “circumcised” three days after she was born, 13 years ago. (more…)
The Quint: India’s Well Kept Secret
10.4.2015. By Manoj Mohanka
“When I was around seven, my grandmother took me on an outing. We went to a dingy building. The women there told me to take my panties off. Then all the women, including my grandmother, pinned my arms and legs down. One of the women took a blade and began cutting me down there. I screamed in terror and pain.”
Those may be the words of only one woman, but they convey the anguish faced by many. (more…)
Guardian: In Thailand’s Muslim south, authorities turn a blind eye to FGM
1.4.2015. By Gabrielle Paluch.
Eight-week-old baby Amiyah grimaces when sunlight falls on her face as though she isn’t used to the idea of having been born yet. On a Saturday afternoon, in Thailand’s southern Pattani province, her Muslim mother has brought her to a small clinic so midwife Dah can slice her clitoris for sunat. The practice, a form of female genital mutilation (FGM), has been banned by the World Health Organisation. (more…)