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1st ever conference on female genital
mutilation FGM in Middle East
21.1.2012
By Thomas von der Osten-Sacken WADI — ekurd.net
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January
21, 2012
BEIRUT, —
The first conference ever on female genital
mutilation (FGM) in the Middle East is currently
taking place in Beirut, Lebanon, with participants
from Iraqi Kurdistan, Central Iraq and Yemen with
input from experts from Indonesia and Egypt. The
groundbreaking event, organized by the
non-governmental organizations Wadi and Hivos, is
serving as a first common platform for experts and
activists fighting FGM in the Middle East. Its
purpose is to learn from each other, create a
network and cooperation structure, and develop a
coherent transnational strategy to eradicate FGM.
Until recently FGM was considered to be practiced
mostly in African countries. Not much information is
available about this practice in the Middle East.
However, research,www.ekurd.net
publications and various other evidence indicate
that it is also practiced in Yemen, Iraq, Iran,
Syria, Oman and Saudi Arabia. FGM is still very much
a taboo issue in the Middle East. It is high time to
break the silence about this gross violation of
human and women’s rights.
No side issue
Politicians, the media, international organisations,
most notably the UN, have since long recognized FGM
in Africa and treated it as merely an African issue.
Considering the astonishingly high FGM rates in the
Middle East it is striking that the above mentioned
actors are still treating the problem in the Middle
East much as a side issue. The Beirut conference was
set up in order to draw the world’s attention to
this neglected fact and send a strong message that
it is time for concerted action.
For instance, in the Beirut conference a physician
from Southern Iraq presented evidence (interview
recordings) in public which indicates FGM is also
practiced in Central and South Iraq. The practice is
a complete taboo for Iraqis and flatly denied by the
Iraqi Central Government.
Muslim World
Most of the heavily affected countries in Asia are
part of the Muslim World. Many Muslim religious
leaders are playing a considerable role in the
justification of the practice, however participants
agreed that it should not be labeled a religious
practice. In each country, religion, politics, the
media and of course local communities themselves
must be won for the cause to play a positive role in
the eradication of FGM. Public awareness is as
important as pressure on the respective governments
to act.
The Beirut conference calls
upon the people and governments of the countries in
the Middle East and the international community to
start addressing FGM, and notably:
- Request civil society organizations to provide
data about FGM in their respective countries;
- Pressure governments of countries in the Middle
East to take up FGM as gross human rights violation;
- Pressure governments from the Middle East to
collect credible data and statistics about
prevalence of FGM;
- Set up a regional network addressing FGM in the
Middle East;
- Make FGM a core issue within UN policies active in
countries in the Middle East where FGM is practiced;
- Request EU, UN and US to address FGM as a core
issue within their foreign policies towards
countries in the Middle East.
Background information on
FGM (source: WHO):
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.
Jessie Hexspoor, Hivos and Thomas von der
Osten-Sacken, Wadi; Beirut the 19th of January 2012
Stop FGM Kurdistan
www.stopfgmkurdistan.org
Thomas von der Osten-Sacken is the director of WADI
[wadinet.de] Director
Copyright © 2012, respective
author or news agency,
stopfgmkurdistan.org | ekurd.net
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