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Yearly Archives: 2014
Iraqi Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani issues Fatwa against FGM
By Rayehe Mozafarian, 06.08.2014
In 2010, the sentences of Shi’ite religious leaders were collected and published in “Razor and Tradition” book.
Gand Ayatollah Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani, the highest-ranking Shia (Marja’) in Iraq and the leader of the Hawza of Najaf said then: “Female Genital Cutting is not Haram” (Haram is used to refer to any act that is forbidden by Allah).
In recent years, new studies and information about FGM in Iraqi-Kurdistan, Kirkuk and some Governorates in Southern Iraq as well as other Middle Eastern countries has been collected and published, for example by the association WADI. Recent worrying news that FGM is being ordered by ISIS has thrown the media into doubt.
Tackling FGM in Iran: Education about FGM during life skill classes for housewives
5.8.2014. By Osman Mahmoudi
The Hamraz Consulting Center, Training Provider in Javanrood is offering classes for housewives to teach them life skills. During these classes Mahmoudi Osman manager of the center talked about physical, psychological and sexual symptoms of FGM. Increased knowledge and awareness about actions such as circumcision is helpful and beneficial in preventing FGM. These training programs were conducted during Ramadan month in the City Javanrood on more than 1,300 housewives attending in life skills training courses. Course instructor was Mahmoudi Osman, PhD student of the Family Counseling, and director of Consulting Center of Hamraz. (more…)
New report: Female Genital Mutilation and Child Marriage in Iran
By Stop FGM Mideast, 30.07.2014
For the first time ever Iranian activists published a report based on interviews and data collections proving that Female Genital Mutilation is much more widespread in Iran than previously assumed. According to interviews done in several provinces in Northern Iran far more than 50% of females in these regions are mutiliated:
India: Ban this barbarous practice!
29.7.2014. Hindu Businessline. By RASHEEDA BHAGAT
Why condemn the ISIS alone? India’s prosperous Dawoodi Bohra community also practises female genital mutilation
FGM in Iraq: The hoax of a hoax?
29.7.1014. By Stop FGM Middle East
Last week a statement by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was circulating in Arab Social media calling female genital mutilation sunnah (the right path in Islam) and called on all Muslim women to have it done. A number of Western media outlets and international organizations reported this fatwa (religious ruling) thereby warning of its consequences for women and girls in the areas occupied by IS in Iraq and Syria.
A few days later this fatwa was unveiled as a hoax by several journalists with Spiegel online taking the lead. But was it really unveiled as a hoax? Most reasons brought forward are based on flawed information and misconceptions about the nature of fatwas. (more…)
Don’t leave girls under FGM threat by ISIS alone!
24.7.2014. By Stop FGM Middle East
The self-proclaimed Khalif Abubakr Baghdadi has ordered the genital mutilation of all women and girls in the area occupied by his Al Qaida-inspired organization “Islamic State in Iraq and Sham” (ISIS). The statement by ISIS says that “to protect the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, and in the fear that sin and vice propagate between men and women in our Islamic society, our lord and prince of the faithful Abu Bakr al Baghdadi has decided that in all regions of the Islamic State women must be sewn”.
According to the local UN representatitive, all girls and women between 11 are 46 in the area are now under threat of being forced to cut their clitoris facing severe health consequences and the loss of sexual happiness for life.
Syria: Islamic State ‘decrees’ infibulation for all women
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…)
Iraq: ISIS enforces female circumcision
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.”
FGM Danger Threatens Girls’ Lives
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%.
“But it only happens in Africa!”
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.