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Thread: Stop Female Circumcision Kurdistan

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    Default Stop Female Circumcision Kurdistan



    http://www.stopfgmkurdistan.org/
    The Campaign: Stop FGM in Iraqi-Kurdistan

    In the few years since it has been launched, the campaign Stop FGM in Kurdistan has created the conditions for an effective struggle against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Kurdish northern Iraq.

    Today, people discuss FGM openly in the newspapers, in radio and TV shows and on the streets. It has not always been this way. Through awareness and advocacy initiatives, the campaign Stop FGM in Kurdistan succeeded in breaking a taboo, making FGM a widely discussed issue. Information is now available to everyone in northern Iraq about the consequences of FGM: pain and suffering, physical and psychological harms, life-long anxiety and loss of ability to feel sexual sensations. FGM is now a recognized problem among the Kurdish public and the local authorities.

    A broad network

    Stop FGM in Kurdistan is a network of local and international organizations, human rights activists, artists and journalists. They are all committed to making FGM history – better today than tomorrow.

    For this reason, the network organizes public and prevention work, engages in political lobbying and works on the ground. For instance, the aid association WADI is running several mobile teams, providing assistance to women across the region.

    International awareness

    On an international level, the existence of FGM in Iraq has been ignored for many years. Female genital mutilation has been commonly described as an ‘African disease’. Thanks to Stop FGM in Kurdistan, this approach is now changing.

    In 2009, the UNAMI (United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq) reported about FGM in Kurdistan for the first time. UNICEF Arbil followed. Shortly before, WADI had published the first findings from a comprehensive study it was about to conduct, indicating that FGM is prevalent in almost all parts of Iraqi Kurdistan. The study, published in 2010, showed that FGM is as widespread in urban areas as it is in the countryside. Human Rights Watch subsequently published a report titled “They took me and told me nothing”, which confirmed the results found by WADI.

    Today, the problem of FGM in Kurdistan is internationally recognized beyond dispute. All future reports on the worldwide problem FGM will have to address FGM in Kurdistan. FGM prevalence maps are currently revised. All those who today still claim FGM to be an African problem can learn the truth now. For this achievement the campaign definitely deserves credit.

    Prospects

    In 2011 the KRG parliament adopted a comprehensive law against FGM and many other forms of violence against women and children. However, still there is a huge gap between aspirations and reality. The campaign is now focusing on the implementation of this great law which is unique in the whole region. In cooperation with the government, WADI is conducting awareness seminars for traditional midwives (professional cutters), offering seminars for leading police officers, teachers and nursery school staff, in addition to their usual awareness activities in the villages. The campaign is counseling the government and supporting all their steps in the right direction.

    Your donation will make a difference

    To hold to the successes achieved by this campaign so far, and to advance further, we need your support: Any donation will make a difference.
    Open discussions are very important, but do not necessarily bring people to quit their “tradition”, especially in the rural areas. More awareness and education is needed, while the government, too, needs to take more action. The campaign Stop FGM in Kurdistan supports the public movement lobbying the government to act.

    A Kurdish girl's story of Female genital mutilation FGM in Iraqi Kurdistan

    by Nigeen Akram

    SLÊMANÎ, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',— As we all know from news reports from the region, the people of Iraqi Kurdistan have been facing great threats and hardships for many years and are currently on the frontline of the fight against ISIS (also known as the Islamic State). However there is another, covert threat facing Kurdish women, many of whom undergo female genital mutilation (FGM).

    This summer 28 Too Many volunteer, Nigeen Akram, returned to Iraqi Kurdistan determined to learn more about this secretive practice and how it affects the lives of Kurdish women. In this blog she tells the powerful story of one of these women and we share it on Blog Action Day 2014 to highlight this secretive practice and support those fighting to end FGM in Kurdistan.

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    http://www.stopfgmkurdistan.org/html...rticle093e.htm
    A Kurdish Girl

    "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" - Martin Luther King Jr.


    Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is unfortunately an ongoing practice in Kurdistan. Although there are organisations working to abolish it, many young women are afraid to share their stories or speak out because they are afraid of what would happen to them and what would happen to their families and those involved in the ritual of FGM. This fear has cultured these women into silence, so we are unable to know the exact number of the victims of FGM in Kurdistan because they are covert.

    When I was in Kurdistan this summer I met a brave 26 year old women, from a village not far from Slêmanî (Sulaimaniyah) who found the courage to share her story in the hope that other women would join her and share their stories so that we can put an end to this barbarous practice.

    This is Payam’s story

    “I remember distinctly, it was a Tuesday afternoon, my sister and I were playing in front of my uncles house; She was 5 and I was 7. An old lady approached us with my mother in tow; she was disliked by girls in the village but I was too young to understand why. She had a merciless face as she walked up behind my younger sister: "You two, come with me" she said to us.

    I looked up at my mother to see her approval: "Go with this grandma".

    Too naive to envisage what was happening, my sister and I followed the old lady. However, my mother didn't follow...

    Suddenly, I felt anxious. Why isn't mother coming with us, I wondered. Why did she leave us with this lady that nobody liked.
    "Grandma, where are we going?" I questioned.

    "Don’t speak so much" she snapped. We tagged along obediently, like little kids do.

    We arrived in a small mud house which smelled of dirt and crushed leaves. In the corner of the room sat two other women whom I recognised from the village. They were what the locals described as "Doctors" even though they held no medical qualifications; or any qualificatiowww.Ekurd.netn for that matter. Grandma walked up to the two ladies and rapidly whispered something in their ears, too quiet for me to make out what they were discussing.

    The two ladies made their way to me and my sister each with a piece of black cloth in their hands. Fear settled over me. Where was my mother?

    One of the ladies grabbed my arms and blindfolded me. I kicked and pushed, but she had much more strength. I could hear my little sister also struggling. She was screaming and crying for help, but I couldn't do anything to help her. I was helpless.

    "Get off me" I screamed, but the lady pushed me down with even more force.

    "It will be over soon, I promise" she said as she took my skirt off and tied my legs to the table.

    I heard my sisters scream from across the room. It was the most agonising sound I've heard to this day. The sort of sound that I never want to hear again. I was blind folded, so I couldn't see what was happening. My sisters crying died out eventually. If my memory serves me well, she passed out. From the fear. The pain.
    Then came my turn. I felt cold hands on my thighs, pressing down. Grandma's hands?

    I started to struggle again.

    "Hold still" grandma hissed.

    I screamed. Cried. Pushed. But it was of no use, I was locked onto the floor.

    And then it happened. The cutting occurred really rapidly. To this day, I have never experienced a pain as intense as being mutilated. It’s the kind of pain I wouldn't wish upon my enemy. They cut us without any use of anaesthetics, as a result I passed out.

    I’m not sure how long it took for me to regain consciousness but when I did I felt sore. I opened my eyes to see one of the ladies applying crushed leaves to my wound.

    "It'll heal quicker this way" she smiled as if she had an ounce of sympathy in her. But I guess I can’t blame her. She didn't know any better. She was following what people viewed as "cultural norms".

    I stayed in that room with my sister for around a month. The ladies would visit us and put crushed leaves onto the wound daily until the wounds eventually healed into a faint scar.

    My mother would come and visit us often, bringing food and new clothes with her.

    I would ask my mother: "Why did they cut me? How could you let them do that to me?"

    After a moment of silence she would reply: "My daughter, I did it to protect you. Those who are not cut in our village are looked down upon. No one will ever eat anything they cook. They are seen as impure. Unclean. You would be an outcast and I didn't want that for my daughters"

    I'm still very angry. Angry that they dared brutalise me like that. But I think they truly believed they were doing my sister and me a favour. In a sense you could say it is their way of dishing out tough love, however unwanted it may be.

    Talking about what happened to me is traumatising and embarrassing. Every time I speak of it I feel the same fear and pain I felt on the day of the cutting. FGM has affected my life negatively. This unnecessary practice is the reason for my phobia of cuts. No matter how small a cut is or where it is, I have a panic attack.

    I am classed as one of the lucky FGM victims. Some girls weren't so lucky. A girl from our village died during childbirth due to complications as a result of FGM.

    I hope more girls speak up and share their stories because together we can end this painful, life threatening practice. I want my future daughters to grow up in a culture that is free from FGM. No girl should go through what my sister and I did. I will make sure my daughters don't.”
    After thanking Payam for being brave enough to share her story and assuring her that her voice will be heard I promised Kurdistan to work hard to end FGM and similar practices. Please share this blog and help Payam’s voice be heard. Many Kurdish women want FGM to end and we need to support them in their stand against the practice.

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    Study shows: Majority of Kurdish Women in Iraq Victims of Genital Mutilation
    http://www.stopfgmkurdistan.org/html.../fgm_study.htm

    Arbil (Iraq) | Berlin: On the occasion of the International Action Day against Female Genital Mutilation, a representative empirical study on »Female Genital Mutilation in Iraqi-Kurdistan« is going to be presented on February 6. A 40 page report summarizes the results of a one-and-a-half year empirical study conducted by the German relief organization WADI. The numbers presented in the report are alarming: A vast majority of women in Iraqi-Kurdistan have undergone FGM with some regions reaching a top ratio of more than 80 percent.


    The study provides comprehensive evidence on the underlying dynamics of FGM and helps understand, why mothers who themselves experienced the horror of mutilation allow FGM to be practiced on their daughters. A vast majority of women who adhere to the practice believe it to be a religious obligation in Islam. Others refer to tradition and state that »it has always been like that«. The study also shows a clear correlation between the level of education and the attitude towards FGM. Still, the FGM rate amongst university graduates is around 30 percent. But it becomes clear that with an increasing social status, women are more likely to question harmful traditions and alleged religious obligations.

    Thus, the study highlights the depressing living conditions of women and girls in Kurdistan and Iraq. Although significant progress has been made especially in the Kurdish region, women still experience extensive discriminations in everyday life and frequently become victims of violence and oppression. This downbeating appraisal only corresponds to a regional trend: Gender discrimination is an obstacle for development in many Middle Eastern societies.

    In this context, the report which is the first and sole collection of empirical data on the subject so far also points to the errors of international organizations. It asks specifically why UNICEF as the UN body responsible still ignores the Kurdistan region when it comes to FGM. UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) were active in northern Iraq for more than a decade without even asking about FGM.

    The report is cautious with recommendations, but a clear political task results from the findings: FGM is not marginal, but affects the life of the majority of Kurdistan's women and girls. It is up to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to take effective and immediate steps to protect them. Any sustainable policy against FGM must focus on higher social standards, better education and effective rights for women.

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    Female Circumcision Continues in Iraqi Kurdistan
    http://www.stopfgmkurdistan.org/html...rticle076e.htm

    SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq — Despite the efforts of Kurdish civil society organizations and the media to shed light on the practice of "female circumcision" — which is widespread in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq — this practice continues, albeit at a lower rate, in secret and with the blessing of some within the religious establishment.

    By Miriam Ali

    Although a number of nongovernmental organizations and activists have been working to put an end to female genital mutilation in Iraqi Kurdistan, the practice continues in secret and with the blessing of some religious figures.

    The Kurdistan parliament criminalized this practice in Article VI of the Domestic Violence Act of 2011.

    Given the conservative nature of Kurdish society, it is very difficult to talk openly about issues pertaining to women and their bodies. When those in parliament were asked to discuss a law criminalizing female genital mutilation (FGM), talks were postponed several times due to the sensitivity of the issue. This resulted in the debate over this law lasting from 2006 to 2011.

    As a result of these efforts, female circumcision rates in all of Iraq fell by half, according to a report released by UNICEF in July 2013 addressing this practice in the 29 countries where it is most common.

    The report noted that 8% of Iraqi women between the ages of 15 and 49 had been subjected to some form of FGM when they were young. The vast majority of these women are concentrated in the provinces of Erbil, Sulaimaniyah and Kirkuk.

    In Iraqi Kurdistan, female circumcision is justified based on religious foundations as well as tribal traditions. Any attempts at enlightenment are resisted.

    Adnan Ibrahim, a religious figure who rejects this practice, spoke to Al-Monitor about FGM. He noted that there is no relationship between female circumcision and Islamic teachings, and "there is no single piece of evidence in the Quran or sunna that legitimizes or calls for [female] circumcision."

    He describes female circumcision as a "practice that results from ignorance or religious fervency." On the other hand, another religious figure, Sheikh Mohammed Hassan, told Al-Monitor, "I do not forbid the practice, based on sayings by the Prophet Muhammad that confirm [the legality of] female circumcision."

    Muslims of various Islamic sects do not have a unified position on female circumcision, particularly within the Shafi school of jurisprudence, which accepts the practice. The vast majority of Muslims in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq belong to this sect. Moreover, Dar Al-Iftaa, the Egyptian educational institute founded to represent Islam, issued a fatwa condemning female circumcision on June 23.

    Ehab Kharat, a psychologist from Erbil, told Al-Monitor, "[Female] circumcision is a historical-based crime that violates a woman's body. In the distant past, the practice was concentrated in the Nile Basin and Africa, yet under the guise of religion it began to seep into other countries. The practice involves cutting off active parts of the woman's body — parts that have a physical function. It is completely different from male circumcision. In the case of the latter, the flesh that is removed is not functional and does not have [a high concentration of] nerve endings. Yet, in the case of female circumcision, the most sensitive parts are removed. Thus, she loses the ability to obtain sexual satisfaction, yet her sexual desire does not decrease.”

    Kharat notes that a distinction should be made between the idea of chastity and honor on the one hand, and sexual desire on the other. Female circumcision does not eliminate sexual desire — which is a psychological desire — but rather prevents a woman from obtaining sexual satisfaction. According to Kharat, it could even drive a woman to engage in deviant acts in an attempt to satisfy this psychological and physical deficit.

    The long-term health consequences of this practice on women are not limited to mental health problems. Noor Suleiman, a doctor specializing in women's health, told Al-Monitor that the majority of circumcised women suffer from chronic health problems. Suleiman noted, "The tragedy begins with this primitive practice itself, which is usually carried out by one of the village elders. The latter typically has no [medical] proficiency and doesn't take into account the amount [of flesh] removed, the cleanliness of the tools being used or the overall health status of the girl. All forms of female circumcision lead to complications, the most serious being bleeding to death."

    Suleiman outlines the health problems circumcised women face: "Nervous shock, damage to neighboring organs, inflammation, organ mutilation, infertility, difficulty giving birth, dysmenorrhea, a general risk of wounds and injuries to the Bartholin's glands."

    Al-Monitor spoke to Falah Muradkhan, project coordinator at the Wadi Organization, a German-Iraqi nongovernmental organization focusing on human rights and family issues, which has been working in Iraqi Kurdistan for 18 years. Muradkhan said, "We have been working on awareness campaigns to condemn female circumcision for nine years. This is done through media coverage and our on-the-ground teams. Our efforts involve drawing attention to the harm and damage this practice can cause as well as providing first aid to circumcised women. We meet with those who perform these circumcisions and with religious figures and try to help them understand the danger of this practice, to deter them from facilitating it. We distributed 80,000 awareness pamphlets in the villages and cities of Iraqi Kurdistan as well as copies of our organization's newsletter, called 'Women's Rights.'"

    Muradkhan referred to the results of a study conducted by the Wadi Organization in Kirkuk in 2012, as a model for the rest of Iraq. The study revealed that 38.2% of females over 14 years of age had been circumcised. Among those surveyed, 65% were Kurdish women, 26% were Arab and 12% were Turkmen. Muradkhan said that he is in contact with a female doctor in Diwaniyah who has evidence that there are cases of female circumcision in southern Iraq.

    "We are working on a campaign called Stop FGM, to put an end to female circumcision in the Middle East — in Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Moreover, we are publishing data from recently conducted surveys," Muradkhan added.

    Many circumcised girls abstain from talking to the media. Sana (not her real name), 39, said that she is trying to forget the experience. However, she is forced to deal with it in her marital life, and as a result the psychological damage it has caused. She noted, "I had no choice in the matter. My parents committed this crime against me when I was a young girl. Today, however, I am a married woman with children. Discussing this issue has become impossible."

    Muradkhan recalls a number of incidents he witnessed during his work at the Wadi Organization. "I remember a father who approached me, and his eyes were filled with tears. He was distraught that he had his daughter circumcised a month prior. He would not have done this had the awareness campaign team come to the village a month earlier, because he realized the harm and risks of this procedure."

    He continued, "Female circumcision causes innumerable problems. We have noticed that Kurdish men usually prefer to marry women from other ethnic groups, because there is a prevailing notion that Kurdish women are 'cold,' when it comes to marital relations. There have been many cases of young men who marry, only to end the relationship when they discovered the wife was circumcised. Problems related to 'coldness' between husband and wife as well as depression can lead to illness and suicide."

    A report issued by Human Rights Watch said that FGM is practiced mainly by Kurds in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

    Since 2003, the United Nations has designated Feb. 6 to be the international day against FGM.

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    I would ask my mother: "Why did they cut me? How could you let them do that to me?"

    She would reply: "My daughter, I did it to protect you."
    I got so sad after reading what the girl asked. I think i am getting softhearted as i get older..

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    But, why this kind of bad things, female circumcision, berdel, honor killings.. etc always happen in kurdish society ?

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    Quote Originally Posted by adsız View Post
    I got so sad after reading what the girl asked. I think i am getting softhearted as i get older..
    i thought Female Circumcision is a custom of deep Africa, seems unfortunately i was wrong. it's happened on front of our eyes

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    Quote Originally Posted by adsız View Post
    But, why this kind of bad things, female circumcision, berdel, honor killings.. etc always happen in kurdish society ?
    probably because of their development has not completed yet, i can not find another explanation

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    Very sad indeed, I didn't know it happened there.
    Help support Apricity by making a donation

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    Quote Originally Posted by Loki View Post
    Very sad indeed, I didn't know it happened there.
    welcome to the club

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