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Gender and Health@ (29) new Reproductive and Sexual Health@ (95)

Women's Issues@ (74)

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Finally, a Law Against Female Genital Mutilation?

Cameroon's 20 female legislators (the country has 180 parliamentarians) will conduct a visit to communities next month to meet circumcisors and their victims, as well as civil society organisations, torwards drawing up the first-ever law on FGM. The legislation could be submitted to parliament before the end of the year. (Sylvestre Tetchiada, IPS News, 29 June 2006)

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33811

(Added: Tue Jul 11 2006   Modified: Wed Jul 12 2006   Hits: 48)

Female Genital Cutting (FGC): An Introduction

FGM Education and Networking Project. As you are reading this article, there are between eight and ten million women and girls in the Middle East and in Africa who are at risk of undergoing one form or another of genital cutting. In the United States it is estimated that about ten thousand girls are at risk of this practice. FGC in a variety of its forms is practiced in Middle Eastern countries (the two Yemens, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, and Southern Algeria). In Africa it is practiced in the majority of the continent including Kenya, Nigeria, Mali, Upper Volta, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Mozambique, and Sudan.

http://www.fgmnetwork.org/intro/fgmintro.html

(Added: Tue Apr 01 2003   Modified: Thu Dec 08 2005   Hits: 569)

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), WHO definition

Often referred to as 'female circumcision', comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons. The most common type of female genital mutilation is excision of the clitoris and the labia minora, accounting for up to 80% of all cases; the most extreme form is infibulation, which constitutes about 15% of all procedures.

http://www.who.int/inf-fs/en/fact241.html

(Added: Tue Apr 01 2003   Modified: Thu Dec 08 2005   Hits: 148)

Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A Statistical Exploration

This 58-page publication analyses available statistics on female genital mutilation/cutting, with the aim of improving understanding of related issues in the wider context of gender equality and social change. The study centres on women aged 15-49 and their daughters, presenting estimates and examining differentials in prevalence, and highlighting patterns within the data that can strategically inform programmatic efforts. According to this document FGM has become a phenomenon that cannot be independently evaluated without looking at the social and economic injustices surrounding women and girls. Any approach that aims to end FGM/C must incorporate a holistic strategy that addresses the multitude of factors that perpetuate it. (UNICEF, 2005)

http://www.comminit.com/redirect.cgi?r=http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/FGM-C_final_10_October.pdf

(Added: Thu Oct 12 2006   Hits: 43)

Female Genital Mutilation: American Academy of Pediatrics, Policy Statement

The traditional custom of ritual cutting and alteration of the genitalia of female infants, girls, and adolescents, referred to as female genital mutilation (FGM), persists primarily in Africa and among certain communities in the Middle East and Asia. Immigrants in the United States from areas where FGM is endemic may have daughters who have undergone a ritual genital procedure or may request that such a procedure be performed by a physician. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) believes that pediatricians and pediatric surgical specialists should be aware that this practice has serious, life-threatening health risks for children and women. The AAP opposes all forms of FGM, counsels its members not to perform such ritual procedures, and encourages the development of community educational programs for immigrant populations.

http://www.aap.org/policy/re9749.html

(Added: Tue Apr 01 2003   Modified: Thu Dec 08 2005   Hits: 127)

Female Genital Mutilation: An Issue of Cultural Relativism or Human Rights?

By Jacqueline Castledine, Mount Holyoke College, USA. Female Genital Mutilaiton (FGM) is the practice of cutting away parts of the external female genitalia. It is ususally called female circumcison by those who practice it. The three broad categories of FGM are: clitoridectomy, excision and infibulation. The mildest form of FGM, clitoridectomy, is the removal of all or part of the clitoris. Excision includes the removal of the clitoris and the cutting of the labia minora. The most extreme form of FGM is infibulation, the removal of the clitoris, labia minora, and the stitching together of the labia majora.

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/jc.htm

(Added: Tue Apr 01 2003   Modified: Fri Jun 16 2006   Hits: 275)

Sign the petition to stop female genital cutting

Both men and women in communities across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia see FGC as an important part of their cultural heritage and a valued rite of passage. But the practice can cause severe hemorrhaging, infection, long-term difficulties with intercourse and childbirth, and even death. Take a stand against female genital cutting and to help protect the nearly 2 million young girls who are at risk this year alone.

https://my.care.org/campaign/fgcpetition_progressive

(Added: Thu Oct 12 2006   Modified: Fri Dec 21 2007   Hits: 255)

The Issue: Female Genital Mutilation

This gives the background of female genital mutilation and the health effects this procedure can have on young girls and women (PBS).

http://www.pbs.org/speaktruthtopower/issue_female.html

(Added: Thu May 31 2007   Hits: 107)

The Taboo Topic of Female Genital Cutting: The search for alternative approaches

Female Genital Cutting affects an estimated three million girls and women every year on the African continent alone. While this traditional practice is common in parts of Africa, Asia, and in some Arab countries as a passage to womanhood or as something to be endured in order to please a future husband, more and more voices are speaking up against FGC as a serious development, health, and human rights issue. The Development Gateway Foundation has launched a special collection on FGC, providing a package of useful resources to help disseminate information and create greater awareness about this phenomenon. It includes an exclusive interview with Thoraya Obaid, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), coverage from the lens of Gender, Youth, HIV/AIDS, Population and Reproductive Health, and Culture, as well as Civil Society perspectives.

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/population/highlights/default/showMore.do

(Added: Tue Jan 09 2007   Hits: 76)