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Yearly Archives: 2016
Guardian: Three sentenced to 15 months in landmark female genital mutilation trial
18.3.2016. A former midwife, a mother of two girls and a Dawoodi Bohra community leader sentenced over mutilation of two young girls in Australia’s first criminal prosecution for FGM
A retired nurse, a mother of two girls and a Dawoodi Bohra community leader have each been sentenced to a maximum 15 months in prison after Australia’s first criminal prosecution for female genital mutilation.
The Guardian reports about FGM in Dagestan
10.3.2016. It is not the first time that we hear about FGM in Dagestan. But so far, we only had hints from Russian media. Now, the Guardian reports about a magazine in Dagestan which makes FGM a topic.
“The magazine also draws attention to the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM).
“I was recently sent a link to a paper which said that FGM is Sunna [traditional Muslim law based on Muhammad’s words or acts]. I took exception to that and did some research and found that it is not true.”
Anokhina said that some of her correspondents had also refused to write about FGM, so she had started to investigate it herself.”
Read the full story in “‘Funny’ stories from the frontlines of Dagestan’s gender war“.
DW: Changing minds about genital mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan
3.3.2016. High rates of female genital mutilation set Iraqi Kurdistan apart from the rest of the country. More than the men, it is the women who keep the cruel tradition alive. Florian Neuhof reports from the Iraqi countryside.
In the hamlet of Tirpaspyan, a loudspeaker crackles into life, summoning the local women to the village mosque. (more…)
+972: How Arab women fought female genital mutilation in Israel
28.2.2016. Just 20 years ago, female genital mutilation was an accepted practice in six Bedouin tribes in southern Israel. Jewish researchers couldn’t figure out why the practice disappeared — because they didn’t talk to the Arab women’s group fighting it.
By Eli Aminov on Blog +972
Half a century ago, one didn’t need to go all the way to Kenya to research the phenomenon of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM): you could do so in Israel. The practice was common among some of the Bedouin population in the Negev, and this was 40 years after the majority became Israeli citizens. (more…)
Talking to circumcisers in Iran: Kind women, violent tradition
22.2.2016. By Rayehe Mozafarian
More than 7000 communities across Africa are working to abandon FGM. But there are some other countries in the Middle East and Asia where FGM is also common as a tradition. Despite the efforts of some organizations in the Middle East and Asia mutual cooperation between the respective governments and international organizations is difficult in some countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and etc. (more…)
Now This: Up to 72% of Kurdish Women in Iraq suffer female genital mutilation
Up to 72% of Kurdish women in Iraq still suffer genital mutila…Female genital mutilation is still too common in too many places
Uncut Voices: FGM where you wouldn’t expect to find it – in IRAN
6.2.2016. by Uncut Voices. When Kameel Ahmady, an aid worker in Africa, encountered FGM, he was at first unsuspecting of the discovery that awaited him on return to his native Iran. Yes, he knew ‘circumcision’ of girls took place in his country, but the secret had been so well-kept that he “was shocked to discover [it among] the closest members of [his] own family.”1 (more…)
FGM: Slow progress when talking to the UN about numbers
5.2.2016, by Stop FGM Middle East
UNICEF just came out with new numbers on FGM. Instead of 140 million, the United Nations Children’s fund now estimates the number of women and girls having undergone female genital mutilation worldwide to be at least 200 million. Those extra 60 million come from adding Indonesia to the list of countries “where FGM is most concentrated”.
But FGM in Indonesia is no news. Everybody who is concerned with FGM knows that the practice is widespread not only in Indonesia, but also in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei. In the case of Indonesia, there were several small and large studies showing how widespread FGM was. In 2003, a large-scale study by the Population Council and USAID found that 86-100% of girls aged 19 reported to be “circumcised” (number of households surveyed: 1694). (more…)
Day of Zero Tolerance: Campaign in Kurdistan in danger
Stop FGM Middle East Press Release, Suleymaniah and Berlin, February 6th 2016
After a most successful year campaigning against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Iraqi Kurdistan and many countries in the Middle East and Asia, WADI has to announce that large parts of the campaign will not continue. (more…)
United Nations Population Fund: Speaking out against female genital mutilation in Indonesia
4.2.2016 Source: United Nations Population Fund – Press Release/Statement
JAKARTA, Indonesia – “The day before I was discharged by the midwife, my daughter was circumcised. She is now three weeks old. When she becomes an adult, she will pray five times a day and read the Al Quran,” says Rosa, a young woman living in Jakarta, before expressing a common misconception in the country. “According to religion, an uncircumcised girl is considered dirty.” (more…)