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 Re: International day on Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation (Re: Roada)
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Quote: "Children in Africa are being mutilated alive in the name of tradition,"
she asserted. "We should not remain indifferent just because these acts
are defined as tradition." |
شكرا رودا، وهذا هو بيان العفو الدولية أيضا... من المهم أن يتخذ النضال ضد هذه العملية منحي من أسفل الهرم تماما كما هو مهم وأساسي أن تلتزم الدول بعدم السكوت وغض الطرف عن الممارسة التعذيبية للفتيات.
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International
AI INDEX: ACT 77/018/2004 6 February 2004
International Zero Tolerance to FGM Day: Effective measures
needed to protect girls from female genital mutilation
As the world observes the first International Zero Tolerance to
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Day, Amnesty International is
appealing to all governments to ensure effective protection of
girls from female genital mutilation (FGM).
"Governments are responsible for protecting women and girls'
physical and mental integrity. Moving against FGM should be part
of a comprehensive approach to protect women from violence and
assert their equal status in society," Amnesty International
said.
During its last meeting in February 2003, the Inter-African
Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women
and Children (IAC) adopted a "Declaration of Zero Tolerance to
FGM on the African Continent". The Declaration stresses that the
"zero tolerance forum will be an initiative which will bring all
[our] efforts to celebrate, reflect and deliberate on FGM and to
renew [our] commitment to protect African women from cultural
and traditional belief systems that are inimical to the sexual
and reproductive rights of women in the continent".
The February 2003 meeting also adopted a Common Agenda to
provide a common framework for all organizations and actors to
intensify and coordinate activities at different levels while
respecting their diversity.
"The Declaration and the Common Agenda are welcome signs of
determination to eliminate FGM. The IAC should act decisively to
spur governments, NGOs and other stakeholders to coordinate
efforts to eradicate FGM and other harmful traditional practices
which contribute to the perpetuation of violence against women".
So far, only 14 African countries have adopted laws banning the
practice. Despite the fact that enforcement of the laws is made
difficult by social pressure to undergo the ritual, Amnesty
International believes that legislation is an important tool in
creating a protective environment for girls and women affected
by this practice and asks African governments to accompany
legislative efforts with measures that will promote the status
of women with regards to their internationally protected human
rights, especially, the right to life and physical integrity and
the right to health.
On this first international day, Amnesty International urges
African governments to comply with the obligations they have
contracted by ratifying international instruments such as the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention for the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the
African Charter on Human and People's Rights.
Amnesty International also calls on all African governments to
ratify the Additional Protocol on Women Rights in Africa adopted
at the African Union Summit in Maputo in July 2003. The Protocol
is the first international instrument which explicitly protects
women's reproductive rights including an explicit call for the
legal prohibition of female genital mutilation.
Background
Female Genital Mutilation 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 immediate and long-term health consequences of female
genital mutilation vary according to the type and severity of
the procedure performed. Immediate complications include severe
pain, shock, haemorrhage, urine retention, ulceration of the
genital region and injury to adjacent tissue. Long-term
complications include, recurring urinary tract infections,
pelvic infections, infertility (from deep infections), scarring,
difficulties in menstruation, fistulae (holes or tunnels between
the vagina and the bladder or rectum), painful intercourse,
sexual dysfunction, and problems in pregnancy and childbirth
(the need to cut the vagina to allow delivery and the trauma
that results, often compounded by re-stitching).
Female Genital Mutilation is practiced in 28 African countries
as well as in Asia (Indonesia) and the Middle-East (Yemen). It
is increasingly found in Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA,
primarily among immigrants from these countries.
Today, the number of girls and women who have undergone female
genital mutilation is estimated at between 100 and 140 million.
It is estimated that each year, a further 2 million girls are at
risk of undergoing FGM.
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إيمان أحمد
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست