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| The real face of the problem: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/fgm-unicef-discover-an-additional-70-million-victims-a6857561.html |
For those of you that read this blog
regularly the title of this post may seem some distance from my normal
ramblings about the importance of ‘gendering’ political issues. All will be
revealed. Last Saturday (6 Feb) marked the fourteenth International Day of Zero
Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM.) This tradition began with
the First Lady in Nigerian in 2003 before being adopted by the United Nations
as a way to globalise the combined efforts of international organisations and
charities alike to put an end to this violation of the rights and bodies of
women and girls around the world. This year staggering new
statistics marked the annual awareness raising day as it was revealed that
the number of girls having their genitals altered for non-medical reasons
around the world is significantly higher than previously thought. Approximately 70 million higher. It was also
revealed that Egypt, Ethiopia and Indonesia make up over a half of the world’s
reported cases of FGM, whilst in Somalia it is believed that 98% of girls are
cut aged between 15-49.
Equality Now also revealed that they
believe up to 137,000 girls in the UK are being cut annually shedding light on
this problem as a truly international problem. These disturbing statistics call
for action on the part of the international community to stop these cycles of
violence and poverty. Not only does FGM result in a myriad of health problems for
women and girls but it perpetuates ideas about girls status in society as
property of men and as deviant second class citizens. This is one of the few
violations of human rights that exclusively affects women and girls and it is
for this reason that, paradoxically, I think the conversation about FGM ought
to be de-gendered. In 2014, FGM was brought into the spotlight here in the UK
when the, then education minister, supposedly
wrote to all schools in England warning teachers of the dangers of FGM and
how to spot signs of potential cutting. Since, whilst Cameron insists on
‘othering’ women including specifically Muslim women in other bizarre and discriminatory ways, the issue of
FGM is yet to be drawn out from its realm of privatised solutions. That is not
to say that these private solutions are not making great strides to stop FGM,
many of the laudable organisations including Daughters of Eve, Equality
Now, the Women’s Equality Party and Refuge place FGM high on their agenda to
stop the subordination of women and girls worldwide. However, given its truly
international nature and the ever-present reliance on the state system, this
problem is one that must be tackled on the international stage not confined to
the realms of a ‘women’s problem.’ The data produced by Unicef this year cannot
act alone in confronting this problem, work must be done to have the voices of
these women and girls heard and to challenge the supposed ‘cultural tradition’
narrative that surrounds this violence. This ubiquitous idea the FGM is
something that only happens to women in the ‘third world’ is a damaging
rhetoric that misrepresents reality and does little to actually stop FGM. The amazing thing about the International Day of Zero Tolerance for FGM was in the face of these statistics social media
was full of mainstream media sources reporting on FGM and its detrimental
affects to society. This kind of advocacy is exactly what we need to bring this
issue to the forefront of the international agenda to end violence and support
development of all kinds, not just against women and girls. Combined with the
incredible grassroots activism and amazing women like these
we could see real collective action to pressure a stamping out of FGM.
Read more here:
United Nations International Day of Zero
Tolerance against FGM http://www.un.org/en/events/femalegenitalmutilationday/
Equality Now FGM http://www.equalitynow.org/fgm
Ending FGM Network http://www.fgmnetwork.org/index.php
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