This campaign to collect information on FGM in the Middle East and Asia and support campaigns has been halted due to lack of funding. For updates on our projects in Iraq and Iran check our website wadi-online.org. For news on FGM in Asia check our facebook page.
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October 18, 2014. SLÊMANÎ, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— As we all know from news reports from the region, the people of Iraqi Kurdistan have been facing great threats and hardships for many years and are currently on the frontline of the fight against ISIS (also known as the Islamic State). However there is another, covert threat facing Kurdish women, many of whom undergo female genital mutilation (FGM).
This summer 28 Too Many volunteer, Nigeen Akram, returned to Iraqi Kurdistan determined to learn more about this secretive practice and how it affects the lives of Kurdish women. In this blog she tells the powerful story of one of these women and we share it on Blog Action Day 2014 to highlight this secretive practice and support those fighting to end FGM in Kurdistan. (more…)
9.9.2014. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) High Council of Women’s Affairs (HCWA) together with UNICEF, Heartland Alliance International, and Wadi, and in collaboration with UN Women and UNFPA, released this week results of a first-ever ‘knowledge, attitudes and practices’ (KAP) survey on the root causes of female genital mutilation (FGM) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I) and convened a conference to share vital information and recommendations to fully eliminate the practice from the region. (more…)
29.7.2014. Hindu Businessline. By RASHEEDA BHAGAT
Why condemn the ISIS alone? India’s prosperous Dawoodi Bohra community also practises female genital mutilation
23.7.2014. (ANSAmed) – BEIRUT – An unverified decree dated Monday in the Islamic State (IS), which extends from Aleppo in Syria to Mosul in Iraq, states that all women in the territory must undergo infibulation, or female genital mutilation.
The decree was allegedly made by the territory’s self-proclaimed “Caliph” Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. The decree bears the insignia of the IS in Aleppo, in the region of Azaz, north of the northern Syrian city.
The text contains a number of typographical errors, and is based on sayings attributed to the Prophet Mohammed. (more…)
23.7.2014. By Omar Awara. BasNews, Mosul
The Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) group is asking all families in Mosul to circumcise their daughters or face severe punishment.
The Spokesman of Mosul Police Ahmed Obaydi told BasNews: “Baghdadi’s decision to have all women circumcised is, as he claims, to prevent immorality and promote Islamic attitudes among Muslims. The decision was made by Baghdadi as a ‘gift’ for people in Mosul.”
National Yemen, by Asma al-Mohattwari, 30.6.2014
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is a major problem in several Yemeni provinces as a social tradition, affecting millions of Yemeni girls. Some Yemenis even celebrate the practice, arguing that it is for their happiness and security, while ignoring the negative effects. […]
The Yemeni Women’s Union estimates that almost 20% of Yemeni girls experience FGM, mostly in rural areas. It varies significantly. Nearly 96% of women have undergone FGM in Hodeidah, Hadramout, and al-Mahra, while in Aden it is 8%.
Model Governance, by Riddhima Sharma, 12.7.2014
One might think that this is [FGM] prevalent only in Africa, but little do we know that this is one of India’s best kept secrets. It very much exists in India. It is largely practised by the Islamic Shia-Muslim Dawoodi Bohra community, a million strong sect prevalent in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.[3] They are also present in Pakistan. […] More than a thousand Bohra women have been campaigning against FGM since the last couple of years. They have made their voices heard in the internet arena. But this is only the beginning, as the religious framework in a country like India is beyond rigid. FGM speaks volumes about our society, our legal system and the attitudes of the people of this country. FGM is more of a relevant and a contemporary issue now more than ever.
Daily News Egypt, Marwa Morgan,10.7.2014
The Egyptian Association for Comprehensive Development (EACD) is ardently opposed to female genital mutilation, a traditional practice of cutting a girl’s genitalia to ensure chastity. But when it sends doctors to speak to low-income Egyptians about the risks of getting their daughters circumcised, the nonprofit dances around the issue.
“We can’t tell people that FGM should be totally avoided,” said Abeer Hamdy, the NGO’s media officer. “It is so embedded in the culture.”
Guardian, Alexandra Topping, 23.6.2014
The Muslim Council of Britain, the country’s largest Muslim organisation, has condemned the practice of female genital mutilation as “un-Islamic” and told its members that FGM risks bringing their religion into disrepute.
The influential MCB has for the first time issued explicit guidance, which criticises the practice and says it is “no longer linked to the teaching of Islam“. It added that one of the “basic principles” of Islam was that believers should not harm themselves or others.
14.06.2014 By StopFGMMideast
A new report was just filed to UNCHR about the prevalence of FGM in various regions of Iran.
Some excerpts, you can download the whole document here
FGM in the Kurdish regions
The Kurdish regions of Iran include Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam and south parts of western Azarbaigan province. The majority of the Kermanshah and Ilam population are Shi’as while most of the Kurds in Kurdistan and western Azerbaijan provinces are Sunnis of Shafi’i branch of Islam. Although FGM is widely practiced between Shafi’is, the practice lacks a blanket pattern. In some rural areas it is more or less done on girls, while in the neighbouring villages no one is even aware of it. For example in Kermanshah province, in the Gheshlagh village of Mansour Aghaie regions FGM is practiced, while in the Tazeh Abad of Seryas village, part of Ravansar town no case had been reported.