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States Parties shall take all appropriate
measures ...
to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct
of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination
ofprejudices and customary and all other
practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the
superiority of either of
the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women.
CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL FORMS
OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN (art. 5 (a)),
adopted by General Assembly resolution 34/180 of 18 December 1979.
Contents:
The
Charter of the United Nations includes among its basic principles the
achievement of international cooperation in promoting and encouraging respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to
race, sex, language or religion (Art. 1, para. 3).
In 1948,
three years after the adoption of the Charter, the General Assembly adopted the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights,(1) which has
served as guiding principles on human rights and fundamental freedoms in the
constitutions and laws of many of the Member States of the United Nations. The
Universal Declaration prohibits all forms of discrimination based on sex and
ensures the right to life, liberty and security of person; it recognizes
equality before the law and equal protection against any discrimination in
violation of the Declaration.
Many
international legal instruments on human rights further reinforce individual
rights, and also protect-and prohibit discrimination against-specific groups,
in particular women. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, for example, had been ratified by 136 States as
of January 1995. The Convention obliges States parties, in general, to
"pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of eliminating
discrimination against women" (art. 2). It reaffirms the equality of human
rights for women and men in society and in the family; it obliges States
parties to take action against the social causes of women's inequality; and it
calls for the elimination of laws, stereotypes, practices and prejudices that
impair women's well-being.
Traditional
cultural practices reflect values and beliefs held by members of a community
for periods often spanning generations. Every social grouping in the world has
specific traditional cultural practices and beliefs, some of which are
beneficial to all members, while others are harmful to a specific group, such
as women. These harmful traditional practices include female genital mutilation
(FGM); forced feeding of women; early marriage; the various taboos or practices
which prevent women from controlling their own fertility; nutritional taboos
and traditional birth practices; son preference and its implications for the
status of the girl child; female infanticide; early pregnancy; and dowry price.
Despite their harmful nature and their violation of international human rights
laws, such practices persist because they are not questioned and take on an
aura of morality in the eyes of those practising them.
The
international community has become aware of the need to achieve equality
between the sexes and of the fact that an equitable society cannot be attained
if fundamental human rights of half of human society, i.e. women, continue to
be denied and violated. However, the bleak reality is that the harmful
traditional practices focused on in this Fact Sheet have been performed for
male benefit. Female sexual control by men, and the economic and political
subordination of women, perpetuate the inferior status of women and inhibit
structural and attitudinal changes necessary to eliminate gender inequality.
As early
as the 1950s, United Nations specialized agencies and human rights bodies began
considering the question of harmful traditional practices affecting the health
of women, in particular female genital mutilation. But these issues have not
received consistent broader consideration, and action to bring about any
substantial change has been slow or superficial.
A number
of reasons are given for the persistence of traditional practices detrimental
to the health and status of women, including the fact that, in the past,
neither the Governments concerned nor the international community challenged
the sinister implications of such practices, which violate the rights to
health, life, dignity and personal integrity. The international community
remained wary about treating these issues as a deserving subject for
international and national scrutiny and action. Harmful practices such as
female genital mutilation were considered sensitive cultural issues falling
within the spheres of women and the family. For a long time, Governments and
the international community had not expressed sympathy and understanding for
women who, due to ignorance or unawareness of their rights, endured pain,
suffering and even death inflicted on themselves and their female children.
Despite
the apparent slowness of action to challenge and eliminate harmful traditional
practices, the activities of human rights bodies in this field have, in recent
years, resulted in noticeable progress. Traditional practices have become a
recognized issue concerning the status and human rights of women and female
children. The slogan "Women's Rights are Human Rights", adopted at
the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993, as well as the
Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, adopted by the
General Assembly the same year, captured the reality of the status accorded to
women. These issues have been further emphasized in the reports of the Special
Rapporteur on harmful traditional practices, Mrs. Halima Embarek Warzazi,
appointed in 1988, and in the draft Platform for Action for the Fourth World
Conference on Women, to be held in September 1995.
The
Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, Ms.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, appointed by the Commission on Human Rights in 1994, has
also examined all forms of traditional practices referred to in this Fact
Sheet, as well as other practices, including virginity tests, foot binding,
female infanticide and dowry deaths, all of which violate female dignity. In her
preliminary report, the Special Rapporteur pointed out that
blind
adherence to these practices and State inaction with regard to these customs
and traditions have made possible large-scale violence against women. States
are enacting new laws and regulations with regard to the development of a
modern economy and modern technology and to developing practices which suit a
modern democracy, yet it seems that in the area of women's rights change is
slow to be accepted. (E/CN.4/1995/42, para. 67.)
The
harmful traditional practices identified in this Fact Sheet are categorized as
separate issues; however, they are all consequences of the value placed on
women and the girl child by society. They persist in an environment where women
and the girl child have unequal access to education, wealth, health and
employment.
In part I, the Fact Sheet identifies and analyses the background to harmful traditional practices, their causes, and their consequences for the health of women and the girl child. Part II reviews the action taken by United Nations organs and agencies, Governments and organizations (NGOs). The Conclusions highlight the drawbacks in the implementation of the practical steps identified by the United Nations, NGOs and women's organizations.
I. An appraisal of harmful traditional practices and their effects on
women and the girl child
A.
Female genital mutilation(2)
Female
genital mutilation (FGM), or female circumcision as it is sometimes erroneously
referred to, involves surgical removal of parts or all of the most sensitive
female genital organs. It is an age-old practice which is perpetuated in many
communities around the world simply because it is customary. FGM forms an
important part of the rites of passage ceremony for some communities, marking
the coming of age of the female child. It is believed that, by mutilating the
female's genital organs, her sexuality will be controlled; but above all it is
to ensure a woman's virginity before marriage and chastity thereafter. In fact,
FGM imposes on women and the girl child a catalogue of health complications and
untold psychological problems. The practice of FGM violates, among other
international human rights laws, the right of the child to the "enjoyment
of the highest attainable standard of health", as laid down in article 24
(paras. 1 and 3) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The origin
of FGM has not yet been established, but records show that the practice
predates Christianity and Islam in practising communities of today. In ancient
Rome, metal rings were passed through the labia minora of slaves to prevent
procreation; in medieval England, metal chastity belts were worn by women to
prevent promiscuity during their husbands' absence; evidence from mummified
bodies reveals that, in ancient Egypt, both excision and infibulation were
performed, hence Pharaonic circumcision; in tsarist Russia, as well as
nineteenth-century England, France and America, records indicate the practice
of clitoridectomy. In England and America, FGM was performed on women as a
"cure" for numerous psychological ailments.
The age at
which mutilation is carried out varies from area to area. FGM is performed on
infants as young as a few days old, on children from 7 to 10 years old, and on
adolescents. Adult women also undergo the operation at the time of marriage.
Since FGM is performed on infants as well as adults, it can no longer be seen
as marking the rites of passage into adulthood, or as ensuring virginity.
Among the
types of surgical operation on the female genital organs listed below, there
are many variations, performed throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East, the
Arabian Peninsula, Australia and Latin America.
Types
of surgical forms
(a)
Circumcision or Sunna ("traditional") circumcision: This involves the
removal of the prepuce and the tip of the clitoris. This is the only operation
which, medically, can be likened to male circumcision.
(b)
Excision or clitoridectomy: This involves the removal of the clitoris, and
often also the labia minora. It is the most common operation and is practised
throughout Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula.
(c)
Infibulation or Pharaonic circumcision: This is the most severe operation,
involving excision plus the removal of the labia majora and the sealing of the
two sides, through stitching or natural fusion of scar tissue. What is left is
a very smooth surface, and a small opening to permit urination and the passing
of menstrual blood. This artificial opening is sometimes no larger than the
head of a match.
Another
form of mutilation which has been reported is introcision, practised
specifically by the Pitta-Patta aborigines of Australia. When a girl reaches
puberty, the whole tribe-both sexes-assembles. The operator, an elderly man,
enlarges the vaginal orifice by tearing it downward with three fingers bound
with opossum string. In other districts, the perineum is split with a stone
knife. This is usually followed by compulsory sexual intercourse with a number
of young men.
It is
reported that introcision has been practised in eastern Mexico and in Brazil.
In Peru, in particular among the Conibos, a division of the Pano Indians in the
north-east, an operation is performed in which, as soon as a girl reaches
maturity, she is intoxicated and subjected to mutilation in front of her
community. The operation is performed by an elderly woman, using a bamboo
knife. She cuts around the hymen from the vaginal entrance and severs the hymen
from the labia, at the same time exposing the clitoris. Medicinal herbs are
applied, followed by the insertion into the vagina of a slightly moistened
penis-shaped object made of clay.
Like all
other harmful traditional practices, FGM is performed by women, with a few
exceptions (in Egypt, men are known to perform the operation). In most rural
settings throughout Africa, the operation is accompanied with celebrations and
often takes place away from the community at a special hidden place. The
operation is carried out by women (excisors) who have acquired their
"skills" from their mothers or other female relatives; they are often
also the community's traditional birth attendants.
The type
of operation to be performed is decided by the girl's mother or grandmother beforehand
and payment is made to the excisor before, during and after the operation, to
ensure the best service. This payment, partly in kind and partly in cash, is a
vital source of livelihood for the excisors.
The
conditions under which these operations take place are often unhygienic and the
instruments used are crude and unsterilized. A kitchen knife, a razor-blade, a
piece of glass or even a sharp fingernail are the tools of the trade. These
instruments are used repeatedly on numerous girls, thus increasing the risk of
blood-transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS.
The
operation takes between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on its nature; in most
cases, anaesthetic is not administered. The child is held down by three or four
women while the operation is done. The wound is then treated by applying
mixtures of local herbs, earth, cow-dung, ash or butter, depending on the
skills of the excisor. If infibulation is performed, the child's legs are bound
together to impair mobility for up to 40 days. If the child dies from
complications, the excisor is not held responsible; rather, the death is
attributed to evil spirits or fate. Throughout South-East Asia and urban
African communities, FGM is becoming increasingly medicalized.
FGM is
known to be practised in at least 25 countries in Africa. Infibulation is
practised in Djibouti, Egypt, some parts of Ethiopia, Mali, Somalia and the
northern part of the Sudan. Excision and circumcision occur in parts of Benin,
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, the
Gambia, the northern part of Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia,
Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda and parts of the
United Republic of Tanzania.
Outside
Africa, a certain form of female genital mutilation exists in Indonesia,
Malaysia and Yemen. Recent information has revealed that the practice also
exists in some European countries and Australia among immigrant communities.
FGM is a
custom or tradition synthesized over time from various values, especially
religious and cultural values. The reasons for maintaining the practice include
religion, custom, decreasing the sexual desire of women, hygiene, aesthetics,
facility of sexual relations, fertility, etc. In general, it can be said that
those who preserve the practice are largely women who live in traditional
societies in rural areas. Most of these women follow tradition passively.
In the
countries where the practice exists, most women believe that, as good Muslims,
for example, they have to undergo the operation. In order to be clean and
proper, fit for marriage, female circumcision is a precondition. Among the
Bambara in Mali, it is believed that, if the clitoris touches the head of a
baby being born, the child will die. The clitoris is seen as the male
characteristic of the woman; in order to enhance her femininity, this male part
of her has to be removed. Among women in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and the
Sudan, circumcision is performed to reduce sexual desire and also to maintain
virginity until marriage. A circumcised woman is considered to be clean.
Establishing
identity and belongingness is another reason advanced for the perpetuation of
the practice. For example, in Liberia and Sierra Leone, groups of girls of 12
and 13 of the indigenous population undergo an initiation rite, conducted by an
older woman "Sowie". This involves education on how to be a good wife
or co-wife, the use of herbal medicine and the "secrets" of female
society. It also involves the ritual of circumcision.
Health
and psychological implications
The
effects of female genital mutilation have short-term and long-term
implications. Haemorrhage, infection and acute pain are the immediate
consequences. Keloid formation, infertility as a result of infection,
obstructed labour and psychological complications are identified as later
effects. In rural areas where untrained traditional birth attendants perform
the operations, complications resulting from deep cuts and infected instruments
can cause the death of the child.
Most
physical complications result from infibulation, although cataclysmic
haemorrhage can occur during circumcision with the removal of the clitoris;
accidental cuts to other organs can also lead to heavy loss of blood. Acute
infections are commonplace when operations are carried out in unhygienic
surroundings and with unsterilized instruments. The application of traditional
medicine can also lead to infection, resulting in tetanus and general
septicaemia. Chronic infection can also lead to infertility and anaemia.
Haematocolpos,
or the inability to pass menstrual blood (because the remaining opening is
often too small), can lead to infection of other organs and also infertility.
Obstetric complications
are the most frequent health problem, resulting from vicious scars in the
clitoral zone after excision. These scars open during childbirth and cause the
anterior perineum to tear, leading to haemorrhaging that is often difficult to
stop. Infibulated women have to be opened, or deinfibulated, on delivery of
their child and it is common for them to be reinfibulated after each delivery.
There has
been little research in the area of the psychological implications of FGM, but
evidence indicates that most children experience recurring nightmares.
In her
recent book, Cutting the Rose-Female Genital Mutilation: The Practice and
its Prevention,(3) Efua
Dorkenoo reports that some evidence of psychological effects is emerging among
the large immigrant communities now living in Europe, the Americas, Australia
and New Zealand. Teenagers, in particular, are having to live in two very
different cultures, where different values prevail. At school they move within
the very liberal setting of the Western culture; at home they have to conform
to values held by their parents. Some of these values often conflict. For some
teenagers this is proving to be problematic. Girls who have been genitally
mutilated have to come to terms with the fact that they are not like their
classmates. Mood swings and irritability, a constant state of depression, and
anxiety have all been noted among infibulated girls. A small number, upon
reaching the age of consent, are being deinfibulated without their parents'
knowledge and engaging in premarital relationships, thus validating the
reasoning behind their parents' wishes to have the operation performed.
There are
also reports of psychological and health problems suffered by women seeking
medical assistance in Western medical,,facilities due to lack of knowledge
regarding genital mutilation. Excised and infibulated women have special needs
which have been ignored or dealt with on a trial-and-error basis. In Western
countries, severe forms of FGM present challenges to midwives and obstetricians
in providing antenatal and post-natal care. For example, professionals need
training to know how to deliver infibulated women. The provision of health care
for women and girls who have been genitally mutilated should be appropriate and
sensitive to their needs. Health promotion work through women's health services
can develop appropriate information materials and actively contribute to
outreach work and awareness raising.
B.
Son preference and its implications for the status of the girl child
One of the
principal forms of discrimination and one which has far-reaching implications
for women is the preference accorded to the boy child over the girl child. This
practice denies the girl child good health, education, recreation, economic
opportunity and the right to choose her partner, violating her rights under
articles 2, 6, 12, 19, 24, 27 and 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child.
Son
preference refers to a whole range of values and attitudes which are manifested
in many different practices, the common feature of which is a preference for
the male child, often with concomitant daughter neglect. It may mean that a
female child is disadvantaged from birth; it may determine the quality and
quantity of parental care and the extent of investment in her development; and
it may lead to acute discrimination, particularly in settings where resources
are scarce. Although neglect is the rule, in extreme cases son preference may
lead to selective abortion or female infanticide.
In many
societies, the family lineage is carried on by male children. The preservation
of the family name is guaranteed through the son(s). Except in a few countries
(e.g. Ethiopia), a girl takes her husband's family name, dropping that of her
own parents. The fear of losing a name prompts families to wish to have a son.
Some men marry a second or a third wife to be sure of having a male child.
Among many communities in Asia and Africa, sons perform burial rites for
parents. Parents with no male child do not expect to have an appropriate burial
to "secure their peace in the next world". In almost all religions,
ceremonies are performed by men. Priests, pastors, sheikhs and other religious
leaders are men of great status to whom society attaches great importance, and
this important role for men obliges parents to wish for a male child. Religious
leaders have a major involvement in the perpetuation of son preference.
Son
preference is universal and not unique to developing countries or rural areas.
It is a practice enshrined in the value systems of most societies. It thus
dictates the value judgements, expectations and behaviour of family members.
Son
preference is a transcultural phenomenon, more marked in Asian societies and
historically rooted in the patriarchal system. In certain countries in the
Asian region, the phenomenon is less prevalent than in others. Son preference
is stronger in countries where patriarchy and patriliny are more firmly rooted.
Tribal societies, which are matrilineal societies, tended to be more gender
egalitarian until the advent of settled agriculture.
In almost
all regions, the practice is rooted in culture and the economics of son
preference, these factors playing a major role in the low valuation and neglect
of female children. The practice of son preference emerged with the shift from
subsistence agriculture, which was primarily controlled by women, to settled
agriculture, which is primarily controlled by men. In the patrilineal
landowning communities with settled agriculture which are prevalent in the
Asian region, the economic obligations of sons towards parents are greater. The
son is considered to be the family pillar, who ensures continuity and protection
of the family property. Sons provide the workforce and have to bring in a
bride-"an extra pair of hands". Sons are the source of family income
and have to provide for parents in their old age. They are also the
interpreters of religious teachings and the performers of rituals, especially
on the death of parents, which include feeding a large number of people,
sometimes several villages. As soldiers, sons protect the community and hold
political power.
Son
preference in the Asian region manifests itself either covertly or overtly. The
birth of a son is welcomed with celebration as an asset, whereas that of a girl
is seen as a liability, an impending economic drain. According to an Asian
proverb, "bringing up girls is like watering the neighbour's garden".
Psychological
and health consequences
The
psychological effect of son preference on women and the girl child is the
internalization of the low value accorded them by society. Scientific evidence
of the deleterious effect of son preference on the health of female children is
scarce, but abnormal sex ratios in infant and young child mortality rates, in
nutritional status indicators and even in population figures show that
discriminatory practices are widespread and have serious repercussions.
Geographically, there is often a close correspondence between the areas of
strong son preference and of health disadvantage for females.
The areas
most affected by the problem seem to be South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal,
Pakistan), the Middle East (Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,
Morocco, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey) and parts of Africa
(Cameroon, Liberia, Madagascar, Senegal). In Latin America, there is evidence
of abnormal sex ratios in mortality figures in Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and
Uruguay.
Discrimination
in the feeding and care of female infants and/or higher rates of morbidity and
malnutrition have been reported in most of the countries already listed and
also in Bolivia, Colombia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Nigeria, the
Philippines and Saudi Arabia. More than two thirds of the world's population
live in countries where registration of death does not occur and many more live
in countries where death rates are not published by sex. Moreover, discrimination
against girls has to be extreme to emerge in mortality rates. For every growing
girls who dies, there are many whose health and potential for growth and
development are permanently impaired. Countless reports the world over have
demonstrated that, in societies where son preference is practised, the health
of the female child is adversely affected.
In some
communities in the Asian region where son preference is highly marked, efforts
to differentiate a female child from a male child through various socio-economic
norms and practices start as early as the foetal stage and continue throughout
the entire life cycle. In these communities, amniocentesis tests and sonography
for sex determination have resulted in the abortion of female foetuses. The
introduction and expansion of scientific methods of sex detection have led to a
revival of female foeticide and infanticide.
Education
Access to
education by itself is not enough to eliminate values held by society, for such
values are in most countries transmitted into educational curricula and
textbooks. Women are thus still depicted as passive and domestically oriented,
while men are depicted as dominant and as breadwinners.
Education
does, however, offer the female child an improved opportunity to be less
dependent on men in later life. It increases her prospects of obtaining work
outside the home. As laid down in articles 28 and 29 of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, all children have the right to education, and the content
of such education should be directed to the development of the child's
personality, talents and mental and physical abilities to their fullest
potential.
According
to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the expansion of educational
opportunities over the past several decades has clearly affected girls,
although this has not been a result of deliberate policy to reduce gender
disparities in educational access. Girls' education, measured by gross primary
school enrolment ratios, has improved substantially in the Middle East and
North Africa region, for example. Nevertheless, in 1990, the region still had
44 million illiterate mothers, a large and increasing backlog left over from
times of lower enrolment levels. Differences in primary school enrolment levels
for boys and girls and competition between them are still very significant in a
number of countries. In countries where overall enrolment is much lower than
desired, girls are particularly disadvantaged.
Although
in many countries school drop-out rates are steadily falling, they continue to
be higher among girls than among boys. The reasons for the high drop-out rate
among girls are poverty, early marriage, helping parents with housework and
agricultural work, the distance of schools from homes, the high costs of
schooling, parents' illiteracy and indifference, and the lack of a positive
educational climate. Girls begin school very late and withdraw with the onset
of puberty. Parents do not see the benefits of girls' education because girls
are given away in marriage to serve the husband's family. Sons are given
priority. In certain countries, enrolment rates for girls have actually
declined despite attempts to increase them.
Recreation
and work opportunities
According
to article 31, paragraph 1, of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
States parties "recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to
engage in play and recreational activities". However, from an early age,
girls from rural and poor urban homes are burdened with domestic tasks and
child care, which leaves them no time to play. Studies have shown that
recreation plays a vital part in a child's emotional and mental development.
When time for play is found by girls, it often takes place near the home. Young
boys, however, have fewer demands made of them and are allowed to engage in
activities outside the home. The status of girls is linked to that of women and
their exploitation. A woman's work never ends, especially in rural areas and in
poor urban households.
The
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
calls for the elimination of discrimination against women in the field of
employment, "in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women,
the same rights" (art. 11, para. 1). It also calls upon States to ensure
that women in rural areas have access to agricultural credit and loans,
marketing facilities, appropriate technology and equal treatment in land and
agrarian reform (art. 14, para. 2 (g)). Evidence indicates,
however, that as girls grow older they face discriminatory treatment in gaining
access to economic opportunities. Major inequalities persist in employment,
access to credit, inheritance rights, marriage laws and other socio-economic
dispensations. Compared with men, women have fewer opportunities for paid
employment and less access to skill training that would make such employment
possible. Women are usually restricted to low-paid and casual jobs, or to
informal activities.
Landlessness
has increased among women, and the number of women cultivators has declined in
some regions, partly due to increased mechanization of agriculture. An
increasing number of women in most developing countries are occupied in the
informal, invisible sectors where national social and labour legislation on
maternity benefits, equal wages and crèche facilities does not apply.
C.
Female infanticide
Sex bias
or son preference places the female child in a disadvantageous position from
birth. In some communities, however, particularly in Asia, the practice of
infanticide ensures that some female children have no life at all, violating
the basic right to life laid down in article 6 of the Convention on the Rights
of the Child. Selective abortion, foeticide and infanticide all occur because
the female child is not valued by her culture, or because certain economic and
legislative acts have ruled her life worthless.
In India,
for example, infanticide was formally legislated against during British rule,
after centuries of practice in some communities. However, recent reports have
shown that there is a revival.
In certain
parts of India and Pakistan, women are still considered unnecessary evils. In
the past, when victorious armies took their revenge on defeated communities,
women were raped as part of the spoils of war. Subsequently, these communities
resorted to killing their daughters at birth or when the enemy was advancing,
to spare the female population and community from shame.
Modern
techniques such as amniocentesis and ultrasound tests have given women greater
power to detect the sex of their babies in time to abort. Illegal abortion,
particularly of female foetuses, either self-inflicted or performed by
unskilled birth attendants, under poor sanitary conditions has led to increased
maternal mortality, particularly in South and South-East Asia.
Female
foeticide is an emerging problem in some parts of India, and the Government has
introduced a bill in Parliament to ban the use of amniocentesis for
sex-determination purposes. Such misuse of amniocentesis is also prohibited in
the States of Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana, where the problem is
more prevalent.
D.
Early marriage and dowry
Early
marriage is another serious problem which some girls, as opposed to boys, must
face. The practice of giving away girls for marriage at the age of 11, 12 or
13, after which they must start producing children, is prevalent among certain
ethnic groups in Asia and Africa. The principal reasons for this practice are
the girls' virginity and the bride-price. Young girls are less likely to have
had sexual contact and thus are believed to be virgins upon marriage; this
condition raises the family status as well as the dowry to be paid by the
husband. In some cases, virginity is verified by female relatives before the
marriage.
Child
marriage robs a girl of her childhood-time necessary to develop physically,
emotionally and psychologically. In fact, early marriage inflicts great
emotional stress as the young woman is removed from her parents' home to that
of her husband and in-laws. Her husband, who will invariably be many years her
senior, will have little in common with a young teenager. It is with this
strange man that she has to develop an intimate emotional and physical
relationship. She is obliged to have intercourse, although physically she might
not be fully developed.
Girls from
communities where early marriages occur are also victims of son preferential
treatment and will probably be malnourished, and consequently have stunted
physical growth.
Neglect of
and discrimination against daughters, particularly in societies with strong son
preference, also contribute to early marriage of girls. It has been generally
recognized at United Nations seminars on traditional practices affecting women
and children, and on the basis of research, that early marriage devalues women
in some societies and that the practice continues as a result of son preference.
In some countries, girls as young as a few months old are promised to male
suitors for marriage. Girls are fattened up, groomed, adorned with jewels and
kept in seclusion to make them attractive so that they can be married off to
the highest bidder.
Health
complications that result from early marriage in the Middle East and North
Africa, for example, include the risk of operative delivery, low weight and
malnutrition resulting from frequent pregnancies and lactation in the period of
life when the young mothers are themselves still growing.
Another
economic reason which perpetuates the practice of female genital mutilation is
related to dowries.
The dowry
price of a woman is her exchange value in cash, kind or any other agreed form,
such as a period of employment. This value is determined by the family of the
bride-to-be and her future in-laws. Both families must gain from the exchange.
The woman's in-laws want an extra pair of hands and children; her family desire
payment which will provide greater security for other relatives. The dowry
price will be higher if the woman's virginity has been preserved, notably
through genital mutilation.
In certain
communities in South Asia, the low status of girls has to be compensated for by
the payment of a dowry by the parents of the girl to the husband at the time of
marriage. This has resulted in a number of dowry crimes, including mental and
physical torture, starvation, rape, and even the burning alive of women by
their husbands and/or in-laws in cases where dowry payments are not met.
It should
be noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in a number of
recommendations in the light of article 2 of the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, has called upon States to recognize the principle of equality before
the law and forbid gender discrimination, including the adoption of legislation
prohibiting harmful traditional practices such as genital mutilation, forced
and early marriage of girl children, early pregnancy and related prejudicial
health practices.
The work
of the Committee has also permitted the identification of certain areas where
law reform should be undertaken, in both civil and penal areas, such as the
minimum age for marriage and establishment of the age of criminal responsibility
as being the attainment of puberty. Some States have argued that girls attain
their physical maturity earlier, but it is the view of the Committee that
maturity cannot simply be identified with physical development when social and
mental development are lacking and that, on the basis of such criteria, girls
are considered adults before the law upon marriage, thus being deprived of the
comprehensive protection ensured by the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The International Conference on Population and Development, held at Cairo in
September 1994 (see p. 36 below), encouraged Governments to raise the minimum
age for marriage. In her preliminary report to the Commission on Human Rights,
the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences,
Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, also recognized that the age of marriage was a factor
contributing to the violation of women's rights (E/CN.4/1995/42, para. 165).
E.
Early pregnancy, nutritional taboos and practices related to child delivery
Early
pregnancy can have harmful consequences for both young mothers and their
babies. According to UNICEF, no girl should become pregnant before the age of
18 because she is not yet physically ready to bear children. Babies of mothers
younger than 18 tend to be born premature and have low body weight; such babies
are more likely to die in the first year of life. The risk to the young
mother's own health is also greater. Poor health is common among indigent
pregnant and lactating women.
In many
parts of the developing world, especially in rural areas, girls marry shortly
after puberty and are expected to start having children immediately. Although
the situation has improved since the early 1980s, in many areas the majority of
girls under 20 years of age are already married and having children. Although
many countries have raised the legal age for marriage, this has had little
impact on traditional societies where marriage and child-bearing confer
"status" on a woman.
Those who
start having children early generally have more children, at shorter intervals,
than those who embark on parenthood later. Fertility rates have been falling
over the past decade, but they remain very high in Africa, parts of Latin
America and Asia. Once again, the link between delayed child-bearing and
education is crucial.
An
additional health risk to young mothers is obstructed labour, which occurs when
the baby's head is too big for the orifice of the mother. This provokes
vesicovaginal fistulas, especially when an untrained traditional birth
attendant forces the baby's head out unduly.
Generally
throughout the developing world, the average food intake of pregnant and
lactating mothers is far below that of the average male. Cultural practices,
including nutritional taboos, ensure that pregnant women are deprived of
essential nutriments, and as a result they tend to suffer from iron and protein
deficiencies.
Poor
health can be improved by a more balanced diet. The choice of food consumed is
determined by a number of factors, including availability of natural resources,
economics, religious beliefs, social status and traditional taboos. Because
these factors place limits in one way or another on the intake of food,
communities and individuals are deprived of essential nutriments and, as a
result, physical and mental development is impaired. This is generally the case
in most developing countries, but especially throughout Africa.
Although
poor distribution of resources-whether due to harsh geographical or climatic
conditions in a region, or to poverty resulting from a lack of purchasing
power-contributes greatly to the severe imbalance of diets throughout Africa,
taboos placed on food for religious or cultural reasons are an unnecessary
practice which exacerbates the situation.
The
reasons for such taboos are many, but all are steeped in superstition. Many
taboos are upheld because it is believed that the consumption of a particular
animal or plant will bring harm to the individual.
Permanent
taboos are also placed on female members of most communities throughout Africa.
From infancy, the female child is given a low-nutrition diet. She is weaned at
a much earlier age than the male infant, and throughout her life she will be
deprived of high-protein food such as animal meat, eggs, fish and milk. As a
result, the intake of nutriments by the female population is lower than that of
the male population.
Temporary
taboos which are applicable only at certain times in the life of an individual
also affect women disproportionately. Most communities throughout Africa have
food taboos specially for pregnant women. Often these taboos exclude the
consumption of nutriments essential for the expectant mother and foetus.
These
nutritional taboos are unnecessary impositions made on women, who are already
malnourished. It is perhaps not surprising that maternal and infant mortality
rates are so high and life expectancy low in the countries concerned. But
nutritional taboos also have far-reaching implications for women in the field
of work, where their levels of productivity can be affected.
Lack of
basic knowledge of human bodily functions can lead to illogical conclusions
when illness sets in, or especially when a mother or her infant dies.
Surrounded by myths and superstition, what may be a simple mishap can be
explained in much more sinister terms as the product of evil spirits or bad
omens.
Most rural
areas throughout the developing world have disproportionately fewer health
centres and clinics, trained midwives, nurses and doctors than urban areas. For
most rural dwellers, health treatment must be obtained from traditional birth
attendants (TBAs). Most TBAs have no formal training in health practices but
acquire their skills via apprenticeship. These are skills passed down through
generations of women. By observing a given situation, the TBA learns which
remedy to use for which illness, or how to perform different kinds of delivery.
If the situation changes, they try to adapt their knowledge and remedies and
hope that that works. If things go wrong, however, supernatural explanations
are given; blame is never attributed to the TBA.
According
to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than half the births in developing
nations are attended by TBAs and relatives. Although these women have every
good intention to assist their patients, mortality rates are higher in the
rural areas where they operate.
The use of
herbal mixtures and magic is common during delivery throughout Africa. The
chemical components of some of these mixtures are beneficial, but others are
quite lethal, especially when taken in large dosage.
In the
case of obstructed labour, the abdomen is at times massaged or pressed to force
the baby out. Some TBAs perform surgical operations to extract the foetus,
using a knife or razor-blade to cut the labia minora and vaginal opening. A
similar operation, known as the "Gishiri cut", is performed in some
parts of Africa, and the likely complications are known to be haemorrhaging and
infection.
Among the
most bizarre treatments for obstructed labour are the psychological ones. In
many societies, difficulty in labour or delay in delivery is believed to be punishment
for marital infidelity. The woman is pressured to confess her misdeed so that
labour may continue without complications. This practice, which inflicts great
mental cruelty on a woman already in agony due to obstructed labour, is
prevalent in several African countries. In addition to the psychological trauma
suffered by the woman, the practice further delays her being taken to hospital.
Treatment
of obstructed labour by ineffective and harmful traditional methods can also
cause uterine rupture. Rupture of the uterus still constitutes one of the major
causes of maternal death in obstetric practice in developing countries. Death
rates as high as 37 per cent have been reported in studies of hospitalized
women with ruptured uterus. Foetal mortality is also very high: it was 100 per
cent in a study of 144 cases of uterine rupture in one African country and 96
per cent in an Indian review of 181 cases.
Even when
obstructed labour does not result in maternal death, it leads to prolonged or
even permanent ill health in the majority of cases. For example, vesicovaginal
fistula is a condition that has traumatic physical as well as social
consequences. Due to prolonged pressure on the bladder during obstructed
labour, the lower genital tract is severely damaged, causing a false passage
between the bladder and the vagina. The woman suffers from incontinence of
urine and sometimes of faeces as well, since 10 to 15 per cent of all
vesicovaginal fistula cases have associated rectovaginal fistula.
In two African
countries, a practice known as "Zur Zur" is performed on women
between the 34th and 35th weeks of their first pregnancy. A deep cut is made in
the anterior wall of the vagina, sometimes on the posterior wall. The wound is
allowed to bleed, then the woman rests for a while before being sent home to
nurse her wound. The purpose of this operation is to prepare the woman for an
easy delivery. However, the consequences can be death through excessive
bleeding, shock, infection of the birth canal, and vesicovaginal or vaginal
fistula.
Misdiagnoses
have been made by midwives and doctors who receive these women once
complications set in. The bleeding is often mistaken for an ante-partum
haemorrhage, and Caesarean sections have been performed; but invariably the
bleeding continues. Midwives are fighting to get the practice stopped in the
countries concerned.
Various
forms of contraception and methods of tightening the vagina are practised
throughout the world. Many involve inserting herbal mixtures and foreign
objects-for example, aluminium hydroxide, cloth, stone, soap and lime-into the
vagina. Many of these inserts have an irritating or erosive effect on the
vaginal mucosa, which is a natural defence against infections and disease, such
as HIV.
F.
Violence against women
Most of
the practices reviewed so far constitute acts of violence against women or the
girl child by the family and the community, and are often condoned by the
State. In its resolution 1994/45 of 4 March 1994, the Commission on Human
Rights recognized other forms of non-traditional practices, such as rape and
domestic violence, as violence against women. In that resolution (paras. 6 and
8), the Commission decided to appoint, for a three-year period, a special
rapporteur on violence against women, including its causes and consequences.
Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy of Sri Lanka was subsequently appointed Special
Rapporteur on violence against women.
This
appointment came after more than two decades of tireless campaigning by women
worldwide. An important step marked by resolution 1994/45 was that, for the
first time, Governments were held accountable for acts of violence against
women committed by the private individual.
In the
same resolution (para. 7), the Commission invited the Special Rapporteur, in
carrying out her mandate, and within the framework of the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and all other international human rights instruments, including
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
and the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, inter alia,
to recommend measures, at the national, regional and international levels, to
eliminate violence against women and its causes, and to remedy its
consequences.
The Special
Rapporteur's mandate includes carrying out field missions, either separately or
jointly with other special rapporteurs and working groups, and consulting
periodically with the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women. In addition, the Commission requested the Secretary-General to ensure
that the reports of the Special Rapporteur are brought to the attention of the
Commission on the Status of Women.
The Special Rapporteur submitted a preliminary report to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty-first session, in 1995 (E/CN.4/1995/42).
II. Review of action and activities by United Nations organs and
agencies, Governments and NGOs
A.
United Nations organs and agencies
Action on
traditional practices affecting the health of women and children, in particular
female genital mutilation (FGM), was first taken in 1958 when the Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) invited the World Health Organization WHO to undertake
a study of the persistence of customs subjecting girls to ritual operations and
to communicate the results of the study to the Commission on the Status of
Women.
In
1960, the issue of FGM was debated at the Seminar on the Participation of Women
in Public Life, held at Addis Ababa for the African region. Concluding remarks
included a call to WHO to make a statement condemning all forms of
medicalization of FGM. In its resolution 821 II (XXXII), adopted in July 1961,
ECOSOC again invited WHO to study the medical aspects of operations based on
customs. A seminar convened in 1979 by the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern
Mediterranean in Khartoum marked a milestone in the campaign against harmful
traditional practices, setting the pace and direction for international and
national plans of action. Additional forms of harmful traditional practices
were identified and a recommendation was made for the formation of the
Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women
and Children. In addition, the seminar reiterated the concluding remarks made
at the 1960 seminar and urged Governments to collaborate with international
bodies in a concerted effort to eliminate these practices.
Commission
on Human Rights and Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and
Protection of Minorities
For a
number of years, many voices, both national and international, have been
echoing the United Nations call for an end to the suffering of girls and women
caused by harmful traditional practices. In the 1980s, the campaign against
such practices became so widespread that, in 1983, the issue was taken up by
the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.
The Sub-Commission's recommendation that a working group be established to
conduct a study of all aspects of the problem was endorsed by the Commission on
Human Rights and the Economic and Social Council.
The
Working Group on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and
Children, composed of experts designated by the Sub-Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, UNICEF, UNESCO and WHO, and
representatives of concerned NGOS, held three sessions in Geneva during 1985
and 1986. The report of the Working Group (E/CN.4/1986/42) was submitted to the
Commission on Human Rights at its forty-second session, in 1986.
By its
resolution 1988/57 of 9 March 1988, the Commission on Human Rights requested
the Sub-Commission to consider measures to be taken at the national and
international levels to eliminate the practices in question, and to report to
the Commission on the subject. Pursuant to that request, the Sub-Commission
appointed one of its members, Mrs. Halima Embarek Warzazi, as Special
Rapporteur to study, on the basis of information to be gathered from
Governments, specialized agencies, other intergovernmental organizations and
concerned NGOS, recent developments relating to traditional practices affecting
the health of women and children (Sub-Commission resolution 1988/34 of 1
September 1988).
The
Special Rapporteur submitted a preliminary report (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1989/42 and
Add.1) and a final report (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1991/6), containing information
received from the above-mentioned sources, as well as information gathered
during field missions to the Sudan and Djibouti. These field missions, together
with two regional seminars on the subject organized by the Centre for Human
Rights in Africa and Asia (Burkina Faso, 1991; Sri Lanka, 1994), have
contributed to a better understanding of the phenomenon of harmful traditional
practices which violate the rights of women and children.
Finally,
in its resolution 1994/30 of 26 August 1994, the Sub-Commission adopted the Plan
of Action for the Elimination of Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting the
Health of Women and Children, which was prepared by the Sri Lanka regional
seminar (see annex).
In the same resolution, the Sub-Commission recommended the extension of the
Special Rapporteur's mandate for an additional two years, to enable her to
carry out an in-depth analysis of the issue, taking into consideration the
conclusions and recommendations of the two regional seminars and the effects of
the implementation of the Plan of Action.
The
resolution also called upon the Secretary-General to transmit the Plan of
Action to the International Conference on Population and Development, held at
Cairo in September 1994, and to the Fourth World Conference on Women, to be
held at Beijing in September 1995. The Special Rapporteur was requested to
submit reports at the forty-seventh and forty-eighth sessions of the
Sub-Commission, in 1995 and 1996, respectively. The Sub-Commission's
recommendations were endorsed by the Commission on Human Rights in its decision
1995/112 of 3 March 1995.
Committee
on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
At its
ninth session, in 1990, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women addressed the issue of harmful traditional practices, in
particular FGM. In general recommendation No. 14 adopted at that session, it
indicated its recognition of work carried out by women's organizations in
identifying and combating harmful traditional practices. The Committee
recommended that Governments support those efforts and encourage politicians,
professionals, and religious and community leaders at all levels, including the
media and the arts, to cooperate in influencing attitudes towards the
eradication of FGM. The Committee also called for the introduction of
appropriate educational and training programmes and seminars based on research
findings about the problems arising from FGM.
The same general recommendation urged Governments to:
. . .
(b)
Include in their national health policies appropriate strategies aimed at
eradicating [FGM] in public health care ... [including] the special
responsibility of . . . traditional birth attendants . . . ;
(c)
Invite assistance, information and advice from the appropriate organizations of
the United Nations system to support and assist efforts being deployed to
eliminate harmful traditional practices;
(d)
Include in their reports to the Committee under articles 10 and 12 of the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
information about measures taken to eliminate [FGM].
United
Nations Children's Fund
The United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has supported a wide range of programme
activities for the advancement of women and girls through advocacy,
policy-oriented research and technical cooperation. There are many examples in
the sectors of health, education, income generation and water supply and
sanitation of projects successfully addressing the needs of women and girls and
promoting their participation in community development.
Special
attention is given to the girl child and to the need to reduce disparities in
the treatment of boys and girls. The Convention on the Rights of the Child and
related policy efforts have stimulated regional and country-level action for
advocacy and mobilization in favour of girls and for the elimination of
discriminatory social and cultural practices. Social mobilization has focused
on changing attitudes, particularly those related to the preference for sons in
most countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. UNICEF's
national, regional and international advocacy of appropriate policies and its
efforts to bring about attitudinal and behavioural change, especially in such
critical areas as early marriage, female genital mutilation, teenage pregnancy
and female infanticide, will be intensified through support to local and national
groups and organizations concerned with these issues.
In May
1994, UNICEF's Executive Board requested the Executive Director to give high
priority to a number of efforts to promote gender equality and gender-sensitive
development programmes, taking into account the special needs of individual
countries and, inter alia, the provisions of the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women. The priorities for action include:
(a)
strengthening the integration of gender concerns in country programmes by
eliminating the disparities which exist at each stage of the life cycle of
girls and women;
(b)
promotion of ratification and implementation of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, as well as the
Convention on the Rights of the Child;
(c)
support for specific action and strategies which promote gender equality within
the family, including the sharing of parental responsibilities.
UNICEF
country offices are working closely with NGO partners and Governments, as well
as with other groups, including women's organizations, religious leaders,
health workers and teachers.
World
Health Organization
The World
Health Organization (WHO) has been concerned with the issue of harmful
traditional practices since 1958, when ECOSOC requested a study of the health
implications of FGM. At a seminar in 1979, organized by the WHO Regional Office
for the Eastern Mediterranean in Khartoum (see p. 24 above), WHO condemned FGM
as a serious health risk which should be abolished, and called upon medical
personnel to refrain from performing FGM.
WHO
promotes and supports traditional practices which enhance health-for example,
breast-feeding-and discourages those which are harmful, particularly to the
health of women and girls. Among the latter, female genital mutilation presents
the most dramatic risk of ill health, affecting some 75 million women and girls
in Africa alone. The organization also discourages nutritional taboos which
prevent pregnant and lactating women from eating essential foods. WHO works
closely with all concerned national authorities, and particularly with
non-governmental organizations, on these issues.
In 1993,
the Forty-sixth World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA46.18 on maternal
and child health and family planning for health. The resolution expressed
concern, inter alia, about the continuing inequities affecting
women in general and the persistence of harmful traditional practices such as
child marriages, dietary limitations during pregnancy, and FGM. It urged member
States to continue to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts
to achieve the goal of health for all, in particular in eliminating traditional
practices affecting the health of women, children and adolescents.
In 1994,
the Forty-seventh World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA47.10, dealing
specifically with harmful traditional practices, in which it urged all member States
(para. 2):
(1) to
assess the extent to which harmful traditional practices affecting the health
of women and children constitute a social and public health problem in any
local community or subgroup;
(2) to
establish national policies and programmes that will effectively, and with
legal instruments, abolish female genital mutilation, child-bearing before
biological and social maturity, and other harmful practices affecting the
health of women and children;
(3) to
collaborate with national non-governmental groups active in this field, draw
upon their experience and expertise and, where such groups do not exist,
encourage their establishment;
In the
same resolution, the Assembly requested the Director-General of WHO to
strengthen technical support to member States in implementing the above
measures; and to continue global and regional collaboration with
non-governemental organizations, United Nations bodies, and other agencies and
organizations concerned in order to establish national, regional and global
strategies for the abolition of harmful traditional practices.
B.
Governments
The
preliminary report (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1989/42 and Add.1) and final report
(E/CN.4/Sub.2/1991/6) of the Special Rapporteur on traditional practices affecting
the health of women and children contain summaries of information on the topic
received, in response to requests by the Secretary-General, from 28
Governments. However, many of these Governments stated that harmful traditional
practices were unknown in their countries. Others recognized the existence of
some such practices, namely female genital mutilation (FGM), son preference and
inferior social status of women, and practices related to marriage, pregnancy
and nutrition.
A number
of countries throughout the world have either taken or supported action to
prevent traditional practices affecting the health of women and children, in
particular FGM.
Bangladesh
clearly
upholds the principle of equality of men and women and prohibits discrimination
against women. To protect the legal rights of women and to stop violence and
repression against them, the Government has adopted the following legislation:
(a)
Dowry Prohibition Act, 1980, which provides for punishment for giving,
taking or abetting the giving or taking of dowry;
(b)
Cruelty to Women (Deterrent Punishment) Ordinance, 1983, which provides for
punishment for abduction of women for unlawful purposes, trafficking in women, or
causing or attempting to cause death or grievous harm to a wife for dowry;
(c)
Child Marriage Restraint Act Amendment Ordinance, 1984, which raises the
marriageable age for women from 16 to 18 years, and for men from 18 to 21
years. It also provides for punishment for marrying or giving in marriage of a
child;
(d)
Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 (as amended in 1982), which provides for
increased punishment in cases of polygamy and divorce in violation of the
statutory provisions.
In the Sudan,
a law was passed in 1946, under the British Colonial Administration, to
prohibit the practice of infibulation.
In Sweden,
the Act on Prohibition of Female Circumcision was passed in 1982. It
not only seeks to bring to justice those breaking Swedish laws, but also any
person living in Sweden who assists in carrying out FGM in another country
which also has prohibitive laws.
In the United
Kingdom, the Prohibition of Female CircumcisionAct was adopted in
1985. Measures against FGM have also been included in the child protection
procedures at local authority levels.
In the United
States of America, the Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation
Act was under consideration by the House of Representatives in early 1995.
A number
of countries which have not yet passed specific laws use existing national
legislation to prohibit the practice of female genital mutilation.
In
France, no specific law exists, but article 312-3 of the Penal Code is
applied to prosecute persons exercising violence against or seriously
assaulting a child under 15, "if the result has been mutilation,
amputation or . . . loss of an eye or other permanent disabilities, or death
not intentionally caused by the perpetrator". The Criminal Division of the
Cour de cessation decided, by a judgement of 20 August 1983, that ablation of
the clitoris resulting from wilful violence constituted a mutilation under
article 312-3 of the Penal Code. While the term "female genital
mutilation" is not used in the Penal Code, this decision makes it quite
clear that such practices fall within the purview of the enactment.
In
Norway, all hospitals were alerted in 1985 to the practice of female
genital mutilation.
All the
above Governments have also acknowledged the importance of education and
awareness raising among both the practising communities and service providers.
Practical steps are being taken in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Djibouti, Egypt,
Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Somalia, the Sudan,
Sweden and the United Kingdom to ensure that relevant information is
disseminated. Lack of information from Africa and Asia makes it difficult to
ascertain what recent action has been taken at national and grass-roots levels.
Some
African countries are in the process of formulating national legislation
against FGM, including Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria. In
Burkina Faso, Kenya and Senegal, statements have been made by heads of State expressing
the need to eliminate FGM.
As regards
Asia, the following countries reported on ongoing and planned action to
eradicate harmful traditional practices at the second United Nations regional
seminar on the subject, held in Sri Lanka in July 1994: China, India, Islamic
Republic of Iran, Iraq, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Republic of Korea,
Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/10, paras. 75 ff.).
C.
Non-governmental organizations
Available
information indicates that increasingly more grass-roots activities in the area
of harmful traditional practices are taking place in Africa and Asia, as well
as in Western countries. In Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the
United States of America, the work of dedicated women is raising awareness and
providing training and advice to service providers such as midwives, health
visitors, nurses, doctors, teachers and social workers.
Of the 29
countries in Africa identified as having communities practising female genital
mutilation, 24 have branches of the Inter-African Committee on Traditional
Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, in addition to many
women's NGOs. Many established national women's organizations have carried out
research and surveys, and others have ventured into communities where FGM and
other harmful traditional practices prevail, setting up training programmes for
excisors, traditional birth attendants and community members.
Work at
this level is vital, for it is through the activities of NGOs that positive
changes are being realized. Although early results of work in these communities
are encouraging, to change a community's attitude totally will take at least a
generation. The NGOs in question thus urgently need continuing financial
support to ensure that their programmes are fully implemented.
Prominent
non-governmental organizations
(a)
Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women
and Children
The
Inter-African Committee (IAC) was formed in pursuance of a recommendation made
at the 1979 Khartoum
seminar organized by WHO. The Committee was officially established in 1984,
following a regional seminar on harmful traditional practices held that year at
Dakar, Senegal. The Committee has been granted consultative status with ECOSOC.
The aims
of IAC are to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates for women and children
through the eradication of harmful traditional practices; to promote
traditional practices which are beneficial to the health of women and children;
to play an advocacy role by promoting the importance of action against harmful
traditional practices at the international, regional and national levels; and
to raise funds for and support local activities of national committees and
other partners.
The main
areas of focus of IAC are training in information campaigns, and training of
local activists and traditional birth attendants.
Intensive
health education workshops, enhanced by the use of visual aids, are provided
for local activists throughout communities, the objective being to raise
awareness of issues related to harmful traditional practices. After five months
of training, these activists are ready to go back to their communities and
train other community members. In this way, the information on harmful
traditional practices reaches a wide audience.
Traditional
birth attendants are also trained to become active in the campaign against
harmful traditional practices. Educational materials are disseminated to
community groups such as students, youth groups, teachers, and religious and
community leaders.
IAC also
organizes international and regional seminars and workshops and is in close
collaboration with the Organization of African Unity, the Economic Commission
for Africa and other United Nations agencies, as well as with other
intergovernmental organizations, NGOS, funding bodies and individuals. The
objective is to appraise and share experience and ideas in methods of good
practice. The last seminar took place in April 1994 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
(b)
FORWARD International
FORWARD
International (Foundation for Women's Health Research and Development) has been
operational since 1983. It emerged from the Minority Rights Group (United
Kingdom), an international human rights organization, as a special project
unit. FORWARD's aim is to promote good health among African women and children
internationally. Its main focus is information provision, advocacy, training of
service providers, counselling and networking with other groups
internationally.
FORWARD is
a United Kingdom-based charity. It cooperates with community groups to develop
educational materials on the health aspects of FGM, and it works very closely
with local authorities in the area of child protection, by providing training
to social workers and teachers. FORWARD also provides training for health
professionals and gives advice on policy guidelines. The organization is
co-founder of a specialized Well Woman Clinic based in the United Kingdom,
which provides services and advice to excised and infibulated women.
FORWARD
was instrumental at the national level in the formulation of the United Kingdom's
1985 Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act,as well as legislation on
child protection. At the international level, FORWARD has provided advice and
guidelines to legislators in relation to the drafting of national laws on FGM
in the United States of America and Australia. The organization has worked
closely with and addressed meetings organized by WHO, Amnesty International UK
and other international agencies. In Africa, FORWARD has extensive links with
women's groups working in the areas of health and FGM.
(c)
Babiker Badri Scientific Association for Women's Studies
This
organization was established in the Sudan in 1979 by a group of volunteer women
in order to enhance research and education on women's issues. It is linked to
the Ahfad College for Women, which is also controlled by the Babiker Badri
Association. The organization is one of the pioneers in the fight against
female genital mutilation, organizing seminars, workshops and studies on the
subject. It runs an income-generating project for mothers in which education on
FGM is gradually introduced. The Ahfad College for Women, which has more than
3,000 female students, has integrated education on FGM into its curriculum.
(d)
Sudan National Committee on Traditional Practices
The main
objective of this national women's organization is to educate and raise
awareness of harmful traditional practices at all levels of society. The
Committee has recognition and support from United Nations agencies, such as
UNICEF, and other international bodies concerned with the health of children.
The
Committee's main target groups are individuals who play influential roles in
communities where FGM prevails, e.g. policy makers, service providers, and
religious and community leaders. The Committee disseminates information via
seminars, workshops, discussion groups and training sessions.
(e)
Women for the Abolition of Sexual Mutilation (CAMS)
CAMS
(Commission Internationale pour I'Abolition des Mutilations Sexuelles) was
established in France in 1980; its head office is in Dakar, Senegal.
One
prominent member of CAMS (France) has devoted her time to campaigning
throughout practising communities in France. As a lawyer, she seeks to protect
the girl child by implementing existing French law, which has involved
prosecuting parents and excisors who have performed FGM in France. Like other
NGOs working in this field, CAMS has a focus on research and awareness raising.
It has also hosted a number of successful international seminars.
(f)
Rädda Barnen
Rädda
Barnen is the Swedish Save the Children organization. It has worked tirelessly
with numerous women's groups in Africa and throughout Europe, providing vital
financial support and advice.
D.
United Nations seminars and conferences
(a) Regional seminars
Two
regional seminars on traditional practices affecting the health of women and
children have been organized in Africa and Asia by the United Nations under its
programme of advisory services in the field of human rights. The first was held
at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 29 April to 3 May 1991; the second was held
at Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 4 to 8 July 1994.
The
objectives of the seminars were to assess the human rights implications of
harmful traditional practices, and to gather information from participants on
measures taken at the governmental and non-governmental levels to end those
practices. Participants included representatives of national Governments,
United Nations agencies, and intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations. Both seminars provided the opportunity for participants to
exchange information and experience. Participants were also urged to implement
the recommendations of the seminars.
The
recommendations adopted by the Ouagadougou seminar (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1991/48,
paras. 136-138) included the following:
(i)
Governments should:
Ratify and
implement international instruments, including those relating to the protection
of women and children;
Adopt
legislation prohibiting practices harmful to the health of women and children,
particularly FGM, and create a governmental body to implement the official
policy adopted;
Carry out
a survey and review of school curricula and textbooks with a view to
eliminating prejudices against women;
Establish
a national committee to combat harmful traditional practices, particularly FGM;
Cooperate
with religious institutions and their leaders and other traditional authorities
in order to eliminate harmful traditional practices such as FGM.
(ii) At
the international level, the recommendations addressed specific
United Nations bodies and agencies, including:
The
Commission on the Status of Women, which was encouraged to study the issues
pertaining to harmful traditional practices, particularly FGM;
UNICEF,
which was called upon to continue its contribution to the campaign against FGM;
UNESCO,
which was requested to provide assistance to the States concerned in preparing
teaching materials, and to include the question of traditional practices in
functional literacy programmes.
In
addition, a special recommendation was addressed to all United Nations
specialized agencies to include in their government aid programmes activities
relating to the campaign against FGM.
(iii)
NGOs were encouraged to intensify their activities for the elimination of
harmful traditional practices. In particular, international NGOs concerned with
protecting the health of women and children were requested to extend their
financial and material support to national NGOS; private donors were also
encouraged to support such activities. Finally, NGOs and Governments were urged
to cooperate with each other in developing programmes for the retraining of FGM
practitioners.
The
recommendations of the Colombo seminar (E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/10, paras. 89-90)
were incorporated in the Plan of Action for the Elimination of Harmful
Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children, adopted by
the seminar, the text of which is reproduced in the annex to this Fact
Sheet.
The
success of the two regional seminars has stimulated great interest among
researchers and women activists the world over, thus increasing the volume of
work being done and the information available on harmful traditional practices.
This is an important step in understanding the prevalence and cultural
justifications of the practices in question.
(b)
International Conference on Population and Development
The
International Conference on Population and Development, convened by the United
Nations, was held in Cairo from 5 to 13 September 1994. Its main objective was
to emphasize the direct links between reproductive health and human rights,
thus placing the concerns of women and the girl child at the centre of the
conference themes.
Concern
over population explosion again prompted participants to examine the crucial
causes of large families. Poverty, lack of family planning, poor health,
limited access to education and lack of women's rights were identified as the
main factors in that regard.
It was
also pointed out that early marriage and pregnancy, leading to high fertility
and poor sexual and reproductive health, prevented the girl child from pursuing
fully her education and employment opportunities. The Conference reaffirmed
that investment in the girl child's health, nutrition and education from
infancy was crucial to development. The Conference further emphasized that
there was a need to eliminate all forms of discrimination against the girl
child-for example, son preference-which resulted in harmful and unethical
practices such as prenatal sex selection and female infanticide.
The Conference
urged Governments to increase public awareness of the value of girl children
through public education, promoting equal treatment for girls and boys at all
levels. It was emphasized that child marriages should be eliminated and
arranged marriages discouraged. Respect for girls and women had to be instilled
in boys from an early age. On the issue of FGM, Governments were urged to put a
stop to the practice and to ensure that rehabilitation and counselling
facilities were available for those concerned.
(c)
Fourth World Conference on Women
The Fourth
World Conference on Women will be held at Beijing from 4 to 15 September 1995.
Convened by the United Nations, the Conference will adopt a Platform for Action
concentrating on "critical areas of concern" that have been
identified as obstacles to the advancement of women in the world-and set an
agenda for the advancement of women at national, regional and international
levels into the next century. The themes that have been identified include poverty,
education, health, violence against women, the effects of armed or other kinds
of conflict on women, and human rights of women.
The issue of traditional practices affecting the health of women and children has been raised at various regional meetings held in preparation for the Conference. The draft Platform for Action for the Conference makes specific mention of harmful traditional practices (E/CN.6/1995/2, annex, para. 88) and calls for increased public awareness about violence as a violation of women's human rights.
Most women
in developing countries are unaware of their basic human rights. It is this
state of ignorance which ensures their acceptance-and, consequently, the
perpetuation of harmful traditional practices affecting their well-being and
that of their children. Even when women acquire a degree of economic and
political awareness, they often feel powerless to bring about the change
necessary to eliminate gender inequality. Empowering women is vital to any
process of change and to the elimination of these harmful traditional
practices.
Since the
World Conference on Human Rights, held in Vienna in 1993, it is hoped that all
States will recognize and accept the universality and indivisibility of the
human rights of women. It is also expected that there will be more ratifications
of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women. However, much remains to be done in the field of equality, taking into
account the absence, in many countries, of real constitutional guarantees of
fundamental human rights for all. The persistence of negative customary norms
that conflict with and undermine implementation of both national legislation
and international human rights standards must be addressed.
Although
such national legislation and international standards are vital in tackling the
issue of harmful traditional practices, there is an urgent need for a parallel
programme that addresses the cultural environment from which these practices
emerged, in order to eliminate the various justifications used to perpetuate
them. It is the duty of States to modify the social and cultural attitudes of
both men and women, with a view to eradicating customary practices based on the
idea of the inferiority or superiority of either sex or on stereotyped roles of
gender.
Comprehensive
and intensive programmes of formal and informal education, awareness raising
and training are the approach followed by some Governments, non-governmental
organizations and women's groups. In part II.C above, reference was made to the
various ways in which women's organizations are trying to empower women and
service providers in an effort to change attitudes regarding harmful
traditional practices. This approach needs to be supported by implementation of
national and international human rights norms relating to the elimination of
discrimination against women. The environment of discrimination, which denies
women and the girl child equal access to health care, education, employment and
wealth, must also be addressed and reformed.
In the
international debate, the father's responsibility towards the girl child has
never been challenged. However, the duties and responsibilities of men within
the family have begun to receive special attention as instruments of change.
The Programme of Action adopted by the International Conference on Population
and Development in September 1994 states:
Changes in
both men's and women's knowledge, attitudes and behaviour are necessary
conditions for achieving the harmonious partnership of men and women. . . . It
is essential to improve communication between men and women on issues of
sexuality and reproductive health, and the understanding of their joint
responsibilities, so that men and women are equal partners in public and
private life.
. . .
. . . Male
responsibilities in family life must be included in the education of children
from the earliest ages. Special emphasis should be placed on the prevention of
violence against women and children.(4)
One of the
most noticeable achievements at the international level has been the lifting of
the taboo against addressing the issue of female genital mutilation, which is
now acknowledged as a violation of the human rights of women and the girl
child. This has created new sociocultural forces in the countries concerned,
particularly among women participating in the crusade against FGM. None the
less, unprecedented efforts are needed at the national and international levels
to eradicate all forms of harmful traditional practices.
Governments, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, and NGOs should now play a more important role in monitoring and implementing the Plan of Action for the Elimination of Harmful Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (see annex). Technical and financial support should be given to national and regional organizations which advocate gender equality and promote human rights for all.
Plan of Action for the Elimination of Harmful Traditional Practices
Affecting the Health of Women and Children a/
_______
a/ Prepared by the second United Nations
Regional Seminar on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and
Children, held at Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 4 to 8 July 1994
(E/CN.4/Sub.2/1994/10/Add.1 and Corr. 1); adopted by the Sub-Commission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in its resolution
1994/30 of 26 August 1994 (para. 3).
A.
National action
(1) A
clear expression of political will and an undertaking to put an end to
traditional practices affecting the health of women and girl children,
particularly female genital mutilation, are required on the part of the
Governments of countries concerned.
(2)
International instruments, including those relating to the protection of women
and children, should be ratified and effectively implemented.
(3)
Legislation prohibiting practices harmful to the health of women and children,
particularly female genital mutilation, should be drafted.
(4)
Governmental bodies should be created to implement the official policy adopted.
(5)
Governmental agencies established to ensure the implementation of the
Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women adopted at Nairobi in
1985 by the World Conference to Review and Appraise the Achievements of the
United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development and Peace should be
involved in activities undertaken to combat harmful traditional practices
affecting the health of women and children.
(6)
National committees should be established to combat traditional practices
affecting the health of young girls and women, particularly female genital
mutilation, and governmental financial assistance provided to those committees.
(7) A
survey and review of school curricula and textbooks should be undertaken with a
view to eliminating prejudices against women.
(8)
Courses on the ill effects of female genital mutilation and other traditional
practices should be included in training programmes for medical and paramedical
personnel.
(9) Instruction
on the harmful effects of such practices should be included in health and sex
education programmes.
(10)
Topics relating to traditional practices affecting the health of women and
children should be introduced into functional literacy campaigns.
(11)
Audiovisual programmes (sketches, plays, etc.) should be prepared and articles
published in the press on traditional practices adversely affecting the health
of young girls and children, particularly female genital mutilation.
(12)
Cooperation with religious institutions and their leaders and with traditional
authorities is required in order to eliminate traditional practices such as
female genital mutilation which are harmful to the health of women and
children.
(13) All
persons able to contribute directly or indirectly to the elimination of such
practices should be mobilized.
Son
preference
(14) The
family being the basic institution from where gender biases emanate, wide-ranging
motivational campaigns should be launched to educate parents to value the worth
of a girl child, so as to eliminate such biases.
(15) In
view of the scientific fact that male chromosomes determine the sex of
children, it is necessary to emphasize that the mother is not responsible for
selection. Governments must, therefore, actively attempt to change the
misconceptions regarding the responsibilities of the mother in determining the
sex of the child.
(16)
Non-discriminatory legislation on succession and inheritance should be
introduced.
(17) In
the light of the dominant role religion plays in shaping the image of women in
each society, efforts should be made to remove misconceptions in religious
teachings which reinforce the unequal status of women.
(18)
Governments should mobilize all educational institutions and the media to
change negative attitudes and values towards the female gender and project a
positive image of women in general, and the girl child in particular.
(19)
Immediate measures should be taken by Governments to introduce and implement
compulsory primary education and free secondary education and to increase the
access of girls to technical education. Affirmative action in this field should
be adopted in favour of the promotion of girls' education to achieve gender
equity. Parents should be motivated to ensure the education of their daughters.
(20)
Considering the importance of promoting self-esteem as a prerequisite for the
higher status of women in the family and the community, Governments should take
effective measures to ensure that women have access to and have control over
economic resources, including land, credit, employment and other institutional
facilities.
(21)
Measures must be taken to provide free health care and services to women and
children (in particular, girls) and to promote health consciousness among
women, with emphasis on their own basic health needs.
(22)
Governments should regularly conduct nutritional surveys, identify nutritional
gender disparities and undertake special nutritional programmes in areas where
malnutrition in various forms is manifested.
(23)
Governments should also undertake nutritional education programmes to address, inter
alia, the special nutritional needs of women at various stages of
their life cycle.
(24) As
son preference is often associated with future security, Governments should
take measures to introduce a social security system, especially for widows,
women-headed families and the aged.
(25)
Governments are urged to take measures to eliminate gender stereotyping in the
educational system, including removing gender bias from the curricula and other
teaching materials.
(26)
Governments should encourage by all means the activities of non-governmental
organizations concerned with this problem.
(27)
Public opinion makers, national institutions, religious leaders, political
parties, trade unions, legislators, educators, medical practitioners and all
other organizations should be actively involved in combating all forms of
discrimination against women and girls.
(28)
Gender disaggregated data on morbidity, mortality, education, health,
employment and political participation should be collected regularly, analysed
and utilized for the formulation of policy and programmes for girls and women.
Early
marriage
(29)
Governments are urged to adopt legislative measures fixing a minimum age for
marriage for boys and girls. As recommended by the World Health Organization,
the minimum age for girls should be 18 years. Such legislative measures should
be reinforced with necessary mechanisms for their implementation.
(30)
Registration of births and deaths, marriages and divorces should be made
compulsory.
(31)
Health issues relating to sex and family-life education should be included in
school curricula to promote responsible and harmonious parenthood and to create
awareness among young people about the harmful effects of early marriage, as
well as the need for education about sexually transmitted diseases, especially
AIDS.
(32) The
media should be mobilized to raise public awareness on the consequences of
child marriage and other such practices and the need to combat them.
Governments and women's activist groups could monitor the role of the mass
media in this regard. All Governments should adopt and work towards "safe
motherhood" initiatives.
(33)
Effective training programmes should be ensured for traditional birth
attendants and paramedical personnel to equip them with the necessary skills
and knowledge, including concerning the effects of harmful traditional
practices, to provide care and services during the antenatal, child delivery
and postnatal periods, especially for rural mothers.
(34)
Governments should promote male contraception, as well as female contraception.
(35) To
discourage the early marriage of girls, Governments should make provision to
increase vocational training, retraining and apprenticeship programmes for
young women to empower them economically. A certain percentage of the places in
existing training institutions should be reserved for women and girls.
(36)
Governments should recognize and promote the reproductive rights of women,
including their right to decide on the number and spacing of their children.
(37)
Considering that non-governmental organizations have an effective role in
urging Governments to enhance women's health status and in keeping
international organizations informed about the trends relating to traditional
practices affecting the health of women and children, they should continue to
report on the progress made and obstacles encountered in this area.
Child
delivery practices
(38)
Contraception should be encouraged as a means of promoting the health of women
and children rather than as a means of achieving demographic goals.
(39)
Governments should eliminate, through educational and legislative measures and
the creation of monitoring mechanisms, all forms of harmful traditional
childbirth practices.
(40)
Governments should expand and improve health services and introduce training
programmes for traditional birth attendants to upgrade their positive
traditional skills, as well as to give them new skills on a priority basis.
(41)
Research and documentation are essential to assess the harmful effects of
certain traditional birth-related practices and to identify and continue some
positive traditions like breast-feeding.
Violence
against women and girl children
(42)
Violence against women and girl children is a global phenomenon which cuts
across geographical, cultural and political boundaries and varies only in its
manifestations and severity. Gender violence has existed from time immemorial
and continues up to the present day. It takes covert and overt forms, including
physical and mental abuse. Violence against women, including female genital
mutilation, wife burning, dowry-related violence, rape, incest, wife battering,
female foeticide and female infanticide, trafficking and prostitution, is a
human rights violation and not only a moral issue. It has serious negative
implications for the economic and social development of women and society and
is an expression of the societal gender subordination of women.
(43)
Governments should openly condemn all forms of violence against women and
children, in particular girls, and commit themselves to confronting and
eliminating such violence.
(44) To
stop all forms of violence against women, all available media should be
mobilized to cultivate a social attitude and climate against such totally
unacceptable human behaviour.
(45)
Governments should set up monitoring mechanisms to control depiction of any
form of violence against women in the media.
(46)
Violence being a form of social aberration, Governments should advocate the
cultivation of a social attitude so that victims of violence do not suffer any
continuing disability, feelings of guilt, or low self-esteem.
(47)
Governments should enact and regularly review legislation for effectively
combating all forms of violence, including rape, against women and children. In
this connection, more severe penalties for acts of rape and trafficking should
be introduced and specialized courts should be established to process such
cases speedily and to create a climate of deterrence.
(48)
Female infanticide and female foeticide should be openly condemned by all
Governments as a flagrant violation of the basic right to life of the girl
child.
(49) The
hearing of cases of rape should be in camera and the details not publicized,
and legal assistance should be provided to the victims.
(50)
Traditional practices of dowry and bride-price should be condemned by
Governments and made illegal. Acts of bride burning should likewise be
condemned and a heavy penalty inflicted on the guilty.
(51)
Families, medical personnel and the public should be encouraged to report and
have registered all forms of violence.
(52) More
and more women should be inducted in law enforcement machinery as police officers,
judiciary, medical personnel and counsellors.
(53)
Gender-sensitization training should be organized for all law enforcement
personnel and such training should be incorporated in all induction and refresher
courses in police training institutions.
(54)
Mechanisms for networking and exchanges of information on violence should be
established and strengthened.
(55)
Governments should provide shelters, counselling and rehabilitation centres for
victims of all forms of violence. They should also provide free legal
assistance to victims.
(56)
Governments must develop and implement a legal literacy campaign to improve the
legal awareness of women, including dissemination of information through all
available means, particularly NGO programmes, adult literacy courses and school
curricula.
(57)
Governments must promote research on violence against women and create and
update databases on this subject.
(58)
Community-based vigilance should be promoted regarding gender violence,
including domestic violence.
(59) At
the national level, Governments should promote and set up independent,
autonomous and vigilant institutions to monitor and inquire into violations of
women's rights, such as national commissions for women consisting of
individuals and experts from outside the Government.
(60)
Governments which have not done so are urged to ratify the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on
the Rights of the Child, to ensure full gender equality in all spheres of life.
The States parties to these Conventions must comply with their provisions in
order to achieve their ultimate objectives, including the eradication of all
harmful traditional practices.
(61) NGOs
should be active in bringing all available information on systematic and
massive violence against women and children, in particular girls, to the
attention of all relevant bodies of the United Nations, such as the Centre for
Human Rights, the Commission on the Status of Women and specialized agencies,
for the necessary intervention. Such information should also be shared with the
Governments concerned, women's commissions and human rights organizations.
(62)
Women's organizations should mobilize all efforts, including action research,
to eradicate prejudicial and internalized values which project a diminished
image of women. They should take action towards raising awareness among women
about their potential and self-esteem, the lack of which is one of the factors
perpetuating discrimination.
B.
International action
The
Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities
(63) The
question of traditional practices affecting the health of women and girl
children should be retained on the agenda of the Commission on Human Rights and
the Sub-Commission, so as to keep it under constant review.
The
Commission on the Status of Women
(64) The
Commission should give more attention to the question of harmful traditional
practices.
(65) All
the organs of the United Nations working for the protection and the promotion
of human rights, and in particular the mechanisms established by the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention
on the Rights of the Child, the Covenants on Human Rights and the Convention
against Torture, should include in their agenda the question of all harmful
traditional practices which jeopardize the health of women and girls and
discriminate against them.
(66)
Intergovernmental organizations and specialized agencies and bodies of the
United Nations system, such as the United Nations Children's Fund, the United
Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the United
Nations Development Fund for Women, the International Labour Organisation, the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World
Health Organization, should integrate in their activities the issue of
confronting harmful traditional practices and elaborate programmes to cope with
this problem.
United
Nations specialized agencies
(67) Close
coordination should be established between the Inter-African Committee on
Traditional Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children and the
relevant United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and regional organizations
for the effective implementation of the Plan of Action. All specialized
agencies should include in their aid programmes activities relating to the
campaign against female genital mutilation and other traditional practices
affecting the health of women and girl children.
Non-governmental
organizations
(68)
National and international non-governmental organizations concerned with
protecting the health of women and children should include in their programmes
activities relating to traditional practices affecting the health of women and
girl children.
(69)
International non-governmental organizations concerned with protecting the
health of women and children should extend their financial and material support
to national non-governmental organizations to ensure the success of their
activities.
(70)
Non-governmental organizations already positively engaged in activities for the
elimination of traditional practices affecting the health of women and children
should intensify those activities.
(71)
Cooperation should also take place between non-governmental organizations and
Governments in developing programmes for the retraining of female genital
mutilation practitioners to enable them to achieve financial self-sufficiency
through gainful activities.
(72) Non-governmental
organizations should continue and reinforce their activities in favour of
protecting the human rights of women and girl children, including the promotion
of beneficial traditional practices.
Other
measures
(73)
Health workers should be required to dissociate themselves completely from
harmful traditional practices.
(74) All
women aware of the problem should be called on to react against traditional
practices affecting the health of women and children and to mobilize other
women.
(75)
Women engaged in combating traditional practices affecting the health of women
and children should exchange their experience.
Abdalla,
Raqiya Haji Dualeh. Sisters in affliction; circumcision and infibulation of
women in Africa. London, Zed Press, 1982. 122 p. Bibliography.
Dorkenoo,
Efua. Cutting the rose; female genital mutilation: the practice and its
prevention. London, Minority Rights Publications, 1994. 196 p. Bibliography.
Hosken,
Fran P. The Hosken report; genital and sexual mutilation of females. 4th rev.
ed. Lexington (Mass.), Women's International Network News, 1994. 444 p.
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Inter-African
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___.
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Notes:
1. For the texts of the international human rights instruments cited in this Fact Sheet, see Human Rights: A Compilation of International Instruments, vol. 1 (2 parts), Universal Instruments (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.XIV. 1). [back to the text]
2. See, generally, Fran P. Hosken, The Hosken Report: Genital and Sexual Mutilation of Females,4th rev. ed. (Lexington (Mass.), Women's International Network News, 1994). [back to the text]
3. London, Minority Rights Publications, 1994. [back to the text]
4. A/CONF. 171/13, chap. 1, resolution 1, annex, paras. 4.24 and 4.27. [back to the text]
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