However, after 5 years of hard
struggles and field work to combat FGM in Kurdistan,
and despite the piles of data, statistics and
documents about the practice that were presented to
the Parliament of Kurdistan, we are unfortunately
announcing that the practice still continues. Since
February 2008, FGM has been covered with a vile of
silence in the Halls of the Parliament, despite the
fact that a project of a bill in this regard is
ready and had been signed by 68 members of
parliament.
In an even more disappointing step, the Ministry of
Health (MoH) had in the beginning responded to our
demands and offered to meet. But after three
meetings with the Minister of Health and all the
Director Generals in the Ministry which resulted in
an action plan to combat FGM, the Minister of Health
(Dr. Abdulrehman Othman) had broke all of his
promises,www.ekurd.netboycotted
our NGO, disregarded all the data we presented to
him and characterized the latter as false and
inaccurate including those statistics from the
Department of Maternal Health of the MoH that were
collected from 2007 to 2008 in Erbil city. According
to the very Ministry’s estimations, out of all the
women visited the department, 30929 were genitally
mutilated and circumcised.
It is surprising that at the same time that the KRG
is claiming to recruit resources and effort to
combat gender based violence, it turns a blind eye
on FGM and doesn’t regarded it as a violence against
women. This is happening while the whole world
recognizes FGM as one of the most dangerous forms of
violence.
The Private Media as a
Supporter of Women Issues:
In April 12-22, 2009 under the leadership of Hawlati
Newspaper, some of the most influential private and
independent media agencies in Kurdistan, started a
petition signing campaign to combat FGM. Those media
agencies included, Hawlati newspaper, Rozhanam
newspaper, Levin Magazine, Awenakan Magazine, Nawa
Radio, and Women Legal Assistance Organization. In
cooperation with Wadi, those media agencies and
organizations implemented a successful 10 days
campaign that involved distributing 1000 buttons,
7000 calendars, 500 brochures, 17 sound clips and
presented and aired many radio programs.
The Expansion of the
International Support:
After the announcement of the “Stop FGM in
Kurdistan” campaign in the spring of 2007, many
international agencies supported this cause. In 2009
the support further broadened to include the Dutch
Embassy in Iraq and the British Consulate in Erbil
which provided financial and moral support for the
campaign. In this regard, UNAMI is extremely
interested in the cause of combating FGM in
Kurdistan. In addition, Human Rights Watch will
issue a report dedicated to FGM that was prepared in
cooperation with Wadi teams.
Besides, many international and local media agencies
had mentioned the campaign in their news coverage
including a latest report by Al-Jazzera News
Channel.
Doctors against FGM Group:
Under the leadership of Dr. Goran Abdulla Sabir and
a number of concerned doctors in Sulemany city, a
group had been established to combat FGM. The group
started its activities with establishing a Blog on
the internet to advance awareness about FGM. You can
find more information about the group at
www.stopfgmkurdistan.wordpress.com.
Data and Follow up of FGM
in the First 8 months of 2009:
In the first 8 months of 2009, our teams visited 125
villages, districts and sub-districts in each of the
cities and towns of Sulaimaniyah,www.ekurd.netChamchamal,
Sharazor, Rania, Qaladeza, Garmian. Out of a total
of 2415 women in the age group of 30-50 years old
who participated in the meetings arranged by our
teams, 2084 were circumcised. This amounts for a
percentage of 86%. The following is a break down of
the above ratio;
1.In 23 villages of the cities Slemany, Chamchamal,
Sharazor, out of 289 women, 252 were circumcised, at
a ratio of 87%.
2.In 64 villages of Rania and Qaladeza, out of 1297
women, 1292 were circumcised, at a ratio of 97%.
3.In 28 villages of Garmian area, out of 829 women,
540 were circumcises, at a ratio of 65%.
Note:
All these women are victims of FGM and are in need
for awareness and health assistance.
A Questionnaire about FGM
in 125 Villages and Town of Kurdistan
During the visits of our teams to the areas
surrounding Slemany, Chamchamal, Sharazor, Rania,
Qaladeza, and Garmian, we administered a
questionnaire survey among the participating women
to explore the status of FGM and its causes at the
current time. 1113 women participated in responding
to the 2 pages survey which asked them about their
socioeconomic status and FGM. We are presenting here
only those results that are directly related to the
practice of FGM especially the number of their
daughters and the prevalence of genital mutilation
among them;
1.In response to the question of “Are you
circumcised?”, out of the 1113 women, 995 responded
by yes amounting for a ratio of 89%.
The distribution according to the region is shown in
the following table:
|
Region |
No. of Surveys Administered |
Yes (Circumcised) |
No (Not Circumcised) |
|
Raniya |
244 |
243 |
1 |
|
Qaladza |
310 |
310 |
0 |
|
Sulaimaniyah |
293 |
257 |
36 |
|
Garmiyan |
266 |
185 |
81 |
|
|
1,113 |
99589% |
11811% |
2-1 The 1113 women surveyed had a total of 2325
daughters out of which 1373 were circumcised. The
total ratio was 59% according to the following
table:
|
Region |
No. of Daughters |
Yes (Circumcised) |
No (Not Circumcised) |
|
Raniya |
511 |
401 |
110 |
|
Qaladza |
611 |
486 |
125 |
|
Sulaimaniyah |
693 |
353 |
340 |
|
Garmiyan |
510 |
133 |
377 |
|
|
2,325 |
1,373 59% |
952 41% |
2-3 The Ages of the Girls According to Region:
|
Age |
Raniya |
Qaladza |
Sulaimaniyah |
Garmiyan |
Total |
|
1 – 5 years |
96 |
125 |
100 |
109 |
430 |
|
5 – 10 years |
111 |
107 |
101 |
145 |
364 |
|
10 – 15 years |
86 |
89 |
100 |
92 |
367 |
|
15 – 20 years |
95 |
105 |
112 |
63 |
375 |
|
20 – 30 years |
72 |
99 |
229 |
86 |
386 |
|
Unknown |
51 |
86 |
51 |
15 |
203 |
3.
With Regard to a question, whether those women got
any information about FGM and from whom, the
responses were as follows;
1.576 women from TV channels, and WADI awareness
teams.
2.195 women from TV channels only.
3.171 women from WADI teams only.
4.54 women from Radio Stations and WADI teams.
5.26 women form Radio Stations only.
6.7 Women from newspapers.
7.84 women didn’t get any information about FGM.
8.Out of the 1113 women surveyed, their response to
whether they would circumcise their daughters in the
future, the results were as follows:
681 were convinced and they don’t believe in it
394 circumcision is an Islam order and I would
continue doing it for my daughters
22 circumcision is a tradition and I would continue
11 circumcision is both a tradition and an order of
Islam and would do it
5 not decided
Recommendations:
1.The new session of the Parliament should pass the
banning of FGM bill. The draft of a bill to ban FGM
was signed by 68 members of parliament in February
2008. It is the responsibility of the Committee of
defending Women’s Human Rights in the Parliament to
follow up with this matter.
2.We recommend having the vetted new Minister of
Health to sit for hearing in the Parliament to
question him/her about the future plans with regard
of health in general and FGM in particular.
3.The new Cabinet of the KRG should adopt a plan to
combat FGM. The further neglect of this harmful
practice is bringing the seriousness of KRG efforts
to face violence against women under serious
questioning especially from the outside world.
4.The Ministry for Religious Affairs should
implement a follow up to this harmful practice
because it is regarded as a prophetic Sunnah.
5.The media agencies, in particular TV and Radios,
are playing a positive role in enhancing the
awareness of women in Kurdistan. The newspapers and
magazines proved to be an effective advocacy tool.
6.Non-Governmental-Organizations, particularly those
related to women’s rights didn’t play a significant
role in combating this practice. We recommend that
these organizations adopt FGM as the worst form of
violence against women and make it a priority in
their agenda.
7.We recommend increasing the efforts for helping
and assisting the victims of FGM through awareness
campaigns with regard to issues of health, sex,
mental health and social wellbeing.
Prepared by: FGM awareness teams in Rania, Qaladeza,
Garmian, Slemany. Under the Supervision of WOLA
“Women Legal Assistance Organization”
Edited by; Falah Muradkhan Shakrm/ Coordinator
General/ WADI/ Iraq
Translated by : Dr. Goran Abdullah
For more information;
www.stopfgmkurdistan.org
07701588173
Email: wadisul (at) yahoo.com
* Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a human
rights violation and a severe form of violence
against women and children. In Iraq, as in other
countries of the Middle East, official documents of
governments and United Nations agencies alike, still
neglect this abuse. As a consequence, Women’s groups
and human rights organizations, supported by the
German NGO Wadi initiated the campaign »Stop FGM
Kurdistan
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
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