In February and March, countries all over the world will commemorate the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM) by holding summits and campaign calls. These strategies offer an opportunity for everyone worldwide to increase efforts to end such a shocking practice.
FGM is an irreversible, pained procedure, where a girl’s external genitals are partially or completely cut away. In most cases, there is no use of anesthesia and is performed under “catastrophic hygienic circumstances”- knives, scissors, razor blades, even pieces of broken glass.
FGM is performed on girls between the ages of four and eight, but some cultures have practiced female genital mutilation as early as a couple of days after birth and as late as just before marriage.
The operation is executed in several different ways: the removal of the clitoris; removal of the clitoris and labia; and infibulations—this is where the external genitalia are removed and the opening is stitched together so only a small hole remains. There are a variety of other disturbing methods of cutting and stretching of the external genitalia—cauterization by burning of the clitoris and tissue that surrounds the opening of the vagina.
FGM is recognized as a human rights issue. It is practiced primarily in Africa. However, it also takes place in the Middle East, South-East Asia and amongst immigrants in Europe and North America. The European Parliament has estimated 500,000 girls and women living in Europe are suffering from the ramifications of FGM. It is not known just how many girls and women in the United States have undergone the FGM procedure.
An estimated 100 million girls and women worldwide have undergone FGM and millions of girls are at risk to endure the mutilating procedure each year on the African continent alone.
FGM causes serious emotional and physical health risks for young girls and women. Studies have shown FGM is linked to complications during childbirth and could even lead to maternal death. Other known side effects are severe pain, hemorrhage, tetanus, infection, infertility, cysts and abscesses, urinary incontinence, and psychological and sexual problems. As the prevalence of FGM persists throughout the world, many women are unaware that this practice is a form of violence against women and children and can amount to torture.
In a recent interview in Bazaar Magazine, former supermodel and victim of FGM, Waris Dirie talks about the release of the film “Desert Flower,” an adaption of her 1998 book, “Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad,” based on her life story. The movie, scheduled to be released in 13 countries, including the United States by mid-2010, describes her incredible transformation from a “nomadic” life in the deserts of Somalia to becoming one of the world’s most famous supermodels.
Ms. Dirie told the magazine her journey was “a dream and a nightmare at the same time.” In 1997, she set aside her career and revealed her personal experience of the practice of FGM. She had suffered the procedure when she was just five-years-old.
Since the revelation, Ms. Dirie decided to end her life as a model and dedicate her life to fighting such an “archaic ritual.” Through the founding of the non-profit Waris Dirie Foundation, she has been able to crusade for her mission and assist people all over the world. Ms. Dirie says she plans to show “Desert Flower” free of charge in Africa and to educate lawyers in Kenya on how to help women affected by FGM.
To help combat and bring awareness to FGM, in 1989, world leaders decided children needed a “special convention” because people under 18-years-old need special care and protection. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international human rights treaty that grants all children aged 17 and under a comprehensive set of rights. The United Kingdom signed the Convention in 1990, ratified it in 1991 and it came into effect January 1992. When a country ratifies the Convention, it agrees to do everything it can to implement it.
In America, when we think about human rights, we seldom think about fighting against FGM. But, it is happening around us and it’s happening to young girls who are vulnerable and weak. It is our responsibility to help put an end to this horrific human rights violation against women. New feminism should require no less.
