All this damn siumuposting, people will think I am trying to pad my post count!
Meara:
Had we left the abolitionist movement solely to those slaves who found “means and will” enough to escape, we would still have slaves. Fact is, only middle-class white northerners had the education and resources to attack slavery.
Why do the people that go back to Africa have to be from there originally? It seems to me that you or I could be effective, if not as effective, as a native in education. Does any sort of charitable orginization exist that pays to help eradicate this problem through education? I do not know that any of the active orginizations in Africa take steps to curb this practice–Red Cross, at least, makes no mention of it on their web site.
It occurs to me that this could be a really effective ad campagin for “Save the Children” type programs–Show a video of a lovely little girl and then the narrator breaks in: “You $.50 a day could provide the education needed to keep this girl’s mother from cutting out her clitoris next week”. I’d be reaching for the checkbook.
Generally I am all for cultural diversity; there are benefits similar to ecological and biological diversity. A big exception to this principal concerns female circumcision in all shapes, styles and formulas.
One strong argument against this horrible practice that hasn’t come across in this thread is the long list of medical problems that result from the procedure: stillbirths and maternal mortality, ripping and tearing of the vaginal canal, painful sexual intercourse, inability to enjoy sexual intercourse, urinary tract infections, genital tract infections, fistulas which result in urinary and bowel movement incontenance - this list goes on and on.
It is extremely hard to balance these negatives with cultural tradition, "religous practices [you won’t find FGM in the Koran],
economic reasons [circumcisors saying that they have to make a living!], keeping the female loyal only to her husband -[don’t work buddy], making a female a true woman.
There are groups of African women who are trying to eradicate the practice, some African countries have outlawed it [but it is rarely enforced], some NGOs are trying to find alternative, viable monetary alternatives for circumsizers etc. USAID,
our US govt agency for development, has only
recently begun to support these efforts after many years of ignoring the human rights plus the medical rationale. We should support this activity as well as successful efforts by US voluntary agencies such as CARE, Planned Parenthood to help local women get rid of this horrible practice.
Finally: let’s look at our own experience with FGM in the US. The practice was ‘perfected’ on African American women by male
physicians in the 1800s and commonly used on upper crust white women who were considered hysterical or just plan nuts. There was a case of medical malpractice against a Michigan doctor [dubious title] as recently as six years ago.
Accepting FGM as a legit form of cultural or religious practice is on par with accepting Hutu slaughtering Tutsi or Slav killing Bosnians. Not acceptable on any grounds.
I think it would be fine to make general aid contingent on education programs, since such a package would hopefully be accepted, however I would not support withholding disaster relief on that basis.
I agree with you that missionaries should go over to spread the word… I just wonder if they will be as effective as those from the same culture.
If you have a definite plan, let me know. I would love to find a way to help (short of going there myself in this stage of my life).
Check out WIN [Women’s Information Network]
run by Fran Hoskens. I haven’t been in touch
with her for while - since I left Africa, but
they have some great education materials available for health care providers.
I’ll check out to see what other agencies
are doing something successfully. Let’s put
our resources to work!
Toni Morrison wrote a wonderful book about
FGM - two actually - one fiction and another
just to increase awareness of FGM in the US.
I don’t think you will find very many people to argue in favor of female genital mutilation (FGM).
I think the best way to approach this would not be by unilateral action from the United States.
Instead, one could try to prevent this by working through other international or african agencies:[ul][li]United Nations agencies such as the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund and/or United Nations Population Fund.[/li][li]Also, of the 29 countries in Africa that are identified as having communities that practice FGM, 22 have branches of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (IAC). In 1997, at an IAC symposium, legislators issued the Addis Ababa Declaration, which called on African governments to adopt clear policies and concrete measures aimed at eradicating or drastically reducing FGM by the year 2005.[/ul]Many of the countries where it is practiced have laws forbidding it, so what is needed is educating people on the health hazards of the practice.[/li]
Amnesty International has an interesting report on FGM. As part of the report they have a list of agencies that are formed to combat this practice.
