20.10.2013 By Wadi

Significant Decrease of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Iraqi-Kurdistan, New Survey Data Shows

 In several Iraqi Kurdish regions female genital mutilation (FGM) has declined significantly within a decade.

During the last six months, the Iraqi-German NGO Wadi has collected data on the prevalence of female genital mutilation in the areas of Suleimaniyah, Halabja, Raniya, Goptata and Garmyan. Having discovered in 2004 that FGM was practiced widely, Wadi’s mobile teams developed a village-by-village approach in their campaign to raise awareness among women about the medical and psychological consequences of the practice.

The new data is based on interviews with 5,000 women and girls and indicates that this approach has led to a steep decrease in the practice. While 66 – 99% of women aged 25 and older were found to be mutilated, the percentage in the pertinent age group 6 – 10 was close to zero in Halabja and Garmyan. In both areas FGM was previously practiced widely and where the awareness campaign began first. In Suleimaniyah the rate of mutilation among 6-10 years old girls is at 11%, in Goptapa 21% and in Raniya – Wadi’s most recent operation area where the rate used to be close to 100% – has now dropped to 48%. The usual age for the cuttings is between 4 and 8 years in this region.

In past years Wadi has conducted a comprehensive statistical survey on the overall prevalence of FGM in the Iraqi Kurdish region and found 72% of the adult women to be affected. Since then Wadi’s research has been focusing more on young girls because they provide indications on the current trends. A decrease in FGM among young girls is a strong evidence for FGM being practiced less now. This important information gets blurred when measuring only the overall prevalence.

The new survey is based on oral accounts, not on medical checkups. It should be noted that FGM is now legally banned and women might be inclined to conceal the practice. At the same time, the teams that conducted the interviews are in long-term and close connections to the communities in which they work and have intimate knowledge of the conditions on the ground. The survey, therefore, provides a genuine indication of significant decline in the practice of FGM.

Wadi’s teams visit the villages in their respective operation areas on a regular basis. They gather the women and discuss various issues – be it social conflicts, women’s rights, female and baby health care, and also FGM. Wadi’s approach is to gradually build up relationships of trust by long-term work within each community and by providing support to the women in their day-to-day problems. FGM is addressed by showing a documentary on FGM in Kurdistan in which a doctor, a mullah and other respected persons speak out against the practice. The film is followed by a discussion and an exchange of opinions. In most cases the discussion will continue for weeks and months.

In addition to face-to-face awareness Wadi is also engaging in advocacy and public mobilization efforts in order to give people a voice, initiate necessary discussions and strive for adaptation of the legal framework. Public action is backing the individual approach.

In 2011, after years of campaigning, the Kurdish regional parliament finally passed a ground-breaking law banning many forms of violence against women and children, including FGM. Since then Wadi, supported by the Dutch Hivos and the German Foreign Ministry, has concentrated on informing the public about the existence of this law and raising awareness about its implications. Wadi trained police officers, conducted midwife trainings, established the first FGM-free villages in Iraq, and consulted for  the government on  implementation of the law. Public events drew the attention of the media and spread the word about the law.

In their daily work in the villages, Wadi’s mobile teams are telling the people about the law and explain its purpose. In Halabja and Garmyan, the places where Wadi provided the most intensive awareness on the ground, 58% and 39% of the interviewed women respectively report that they know a lot about the law, whereas in Raniya only 8% said so.

The combination of individual and public action has proven effective in bringing substantial change in people’s behaviors within a fairly short time. If applied in the rest of the region, FGM can become history within a few years. To achieve this aim cooperation of both local government and international actors is required, including the pertinent UN agencies. At present, nearly a decade after the prevalence of FGM in the region was first made publicly known Wadi continues to work to raise awareness and to reduce the practice on the ground in the rural areas.

Source

19.9.2013. In a recent fatwa a certain Sheikh Al-Hajji Al-Kurdi from the Saudi Ministry of Awqaf & Islamic Affairs endorsed female genital mutilation in its “sunna” form which stipulates the cutting of the clitoris prepuce. He distinguished this allowed “Islamic circumcision” from forbidden “Pharaonic circumcisions”.

On the ground, however, it is common opinion that “sunna circumcision” includes the cutting of the clitoris.

A fatwa like this one raises serious questions about the prevalence of FGM in Saudi Arabia.

07. 08. 2013

The recent Unicef report on female genital mutilation (FGM) has sparked a debate about the best way to eliminate the practice. As Thomas Reuters reports some campaigners stress the necessity of law enforcement while others are set on the empowerment of women. No one denies that both are important but the emphasis to be put on each is disputed.

Comparing Unicef’s figures by country must indeed lead to questions why FGM in some places declines while it does not in others. While Unicef found a general decline of FGM in the surveyed region, there are steep differences between countries. Burkina Faso is a success story with a high prevalence of 90 percent, but only 9 percent of girls and women supporting the continuation of FGM today. Senegal, on the other hand, seems to be somewhat of a set back. With also high prevalence of 79 precent it could be counted as a success that only 18 percent of women aged 45-49 want FGM to continue. Yet, the next generation seems to be much of the same opinion with 16 percent of girls aged 15-19 in favor of it. If awareness campaigns were successful it could be expected that support drops from generation to generation.

Both countries have outlawed FGM in the 1990s and have seen large campaigns against FGM in the last decades. Why then is there so little change in attitudes between generations in Senegal? Some campaigners, such as Equality Now, point to the fact that Burkina Faso has seen strong law enforcement while Senegal hasn’t. An SOS hotline has been installed that allows the public to call if they know FGM is being performed. The police arrive immediately on the spot to arrest the perpetrators.

Yet, Tostan, a large non-governmental organization in charge of the Anti-FGM-campaigns in Senegal, defends its approach to eliminate FGM through the empowerment of women – teaching literacy, health and human rights.

WADI and the Stop FGM Mideast campaign stress that empowerment of women and law enforcement including all legal issues must go hand and hand. Particularly, in countries with a strong tradition of religious laws regulating people’s lifes, the state must take a decisive stand against female genital mutilation. Otherwise, any awareness campaign risks to be challenged by a local Imam or other cleric who might not be in accordance with higher religious authorities but is listened to in the absence of state.

The Bristish Guardian will have a live discussion on a related topic on August 8th: Live Q&A: finding strategies to end harmful behaviours and beliefs

17.7.2003 by Stop FGM Mideast

The highest religious authority in Egypt has – once again – condemned female genital mutilation. In the current climate with fears rising last year that then ruling islamists could decriminalize FGM, this is an important signal and success in the struggle against FGM. Yet, the practice remains widespread in the country.

A representative of Dar Al-Ifta, an official body responsible for issuing religious edicts based on the rulings of the religious Al-Azhar University, has told a summit in Cairo that FGM is “not a religious duty” and should be prohibited. Mohamed Wessam Khedr addressed representatives of the Egyptian government, Al-Azhar, Unicef and the Egyptian Coalition for Children’s Rights on June 20st, Daily News Egypt reported. “FGM is practised in a harmful way that makes us say that it is forbidden in Islam,” he said. The meeting was held to commemorate Egypt’s inaugural National Day to Fight FGM – established in 2007 after a girl died during the practice.

The Al-Azhar, situated in Cairo is probably the most respected Islamic university in the Muslim world, condemned FGM already in 2006. At a conference taking place at the University, theologians from different Muslim countries concluded that female circumcision is forbidden by Sura 95, Verse 4 of the Koran: “We have created man in the most perfect image.” A joint statement read: “Female genital circumcision is harming women psychologically and physically.”

The practice was criminalized in Egypt in 2008, with those found guilty standing to receive between three months and two years in prison. They can also be fined up to 5,000 Egyptian pounds (543 Euro).

Nevertheless, FGM remains widespread. More than 90% of women are assumed to have undergone the torture of FGM – not least due to the lack of law enforcement and special legal provisions (FGM is still permitted under the pretext of dubious „medical reasons“).

After the fall of Mubarak the new government dominated by religious forces as the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists raised fears, that it might come to a backlash regarding FGM, even to an abolishment of the anti FGM-Law. The official positions were to say at least ambiguous. A Salafist MP claimed the practice to be part of the propehtic Sunna and proposed a new law, Egypt Independent reported. The Muslimbrothers remained mostly tacit on the topic, yet sponsered a charity medical campaign during which FGM was performed. The recent death of a 13-year-old Egyptian girl during an FGM-operation in a private clinic led to a broad discussion.

Against this background the renewed religious ruling against the practice of FGM is not to be underestimated. It is a clear signal from within an important part of the religious establishment towards islamist forces, that the controvers discussion about FGM has finally arrived in the Muslim societies itself. The claim of radical islamist forces to define the “right” muslim answer towards FGM is contested by the highest religious authority in Egypt. This development also contains an important lesson for uncritical Western observers: The practice of FGM is not a fate for some people, based on unalterable “cultural” or “religious” traditions or beliefs. Yet it also reminds us, that ending FGM will be a long term process, which has to be monitored constantly.

The Hague / Suleymaniah June 11, 2012 The silence on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the Middle East needs to be broken. To end this brutal violation of human rights that is systematically applied in the region, NGOs Wadi and Hivos are expanding their pioneering work in Iraq to eleven countries.     

FGM was regarded for decades solely as an “African problem”. But it is not just that; several indications and first pilot surveys now shed light on a topic that was never spoken about: FGM is present everywhere in the Middle East.

After a first key conference in Beirut in January with FGM-activists from several Middle Eastern countries, Hivos and Wadi decided to jointly engage in a programme to combat FGM in the region. The first phase of the programme is to raise awareness about the problem of FGM in the Middle East and initialize a public discourse about it. An important aspect is also to strengthen and enlarge the regional network in combating the practice.

In a second phase, selected national partner organisations will boost a concerted effort, adapted to the special conditions for their countries. One of the aims will be the implementation of laws and policies prohibiting FGM.

The campaign Stop FGM Middle East is already under way. First public starting points will be the official presentation of a survey by Wadi about the rates of FGM in the Kirkuk-Governorate on June 13, a public event in the Dutch Parliament addressing FGM on June 19 and a celebration in Suleymaniah on June 20 of the adoption of the domestic violence law in Iraqi Kurdistan one year ago, the first law in the region that bans FGM.

Background
Women’s rights in the Middle East are violated structurally and on a large scale. Domestic violence, FGM, child and forced marriage and honor killings are the gravest forms of gender based violence. Among these violations, FGM is most widespread.

The practice is culturally deeply rooted. It is seen as a religious obligation and as a means to suppress the sexuality of women. On the other hand it is also believed that circumcision forms a prerequisite for successful marriage. Fact of the matter is that millions of girls who are mutilated suffer from the negative physical and psychological consequences of the mutilation.

Wadi in Iraq
German/ Iraqi organization Wadi has been working tirelessly to fight FGM in Iraq, mostly in the Kurdish region and more recently in Kirkuk, with the support of Hivos. It was found that more than 50% of the women and girls in Iraqi Kurdistan were mutilated. In Kirkuk, where the ethnic composition of the population is representative for the whole of Iraq, 40% of the women had undergone FGM. Several efforts – field work, campaigning and public pressure – have raised awareness amongst the population and politicians about the negative consequences of FGM. This eventually led to the Kurdish parliament passing an anti FGM law.

WHO definition
FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is often carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person’s rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death. FGM comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons and is mostly carried out by traditional circumcisers.

download “Determination to end FGM in Middle East”
For more information please contact

Wadi
Oliver M. Piecha, oliver.piecha@gmx.ne t ,+49-15154824532
and Hivos
Gemma Andriessen, g.andriessen@hivos.nl , +31-619596639