WUNRN
Somaliland is an autonomous
region, which is part of the Somali republic located in
the Horn of Africa. Having declared its own
local government in Somalia in 1991,
Somaliland remains unrecognized
by any country or international organization.[2][3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaliland
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SOMALILAND
- FGM/C - Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting
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Kinsi
Hussein, the deputy head of the Network of Anti-FGM in |
HARGEISA, 3 November 2008 (IRIN) - Hawa* is
determined her young daughter will not undergo female genital
mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), which is widespread in Somalia's self-declared
republic of Somaliland.
An estimated 90 percent of girls still undergo the
procedure.
"I have suffered kidney problems, infections and
miscarriages," said Hawa. "I dread the days when my period is close
because of the pain I go through; it gets to the point where the pain makes it
impossible to do anything. I don’t want my daughter subjected to this kind of
life."
"Gudnin Fircooni", Pharaonic
circumcision or infibulation, as practised in Somaliland, involves cutting
off the external genitalia and sewing up the vagina, leaving a small hole for
urine and menstrual blood.
The practice is not illegal but the government’s gender
policy was to discourage FGM/C, said Kinsi Hussein, an activist and deputy head
of the Network of Anti-FGM in Somaliland (NAFIS).
Hussein told IRIN several organisations were involved in
the campaign against FGM/C in Somaliland.
"We are now trying to speak with one voice and have
one message," she said.
Although there are no statistics on prevalence in
Somalia, Hussein said FGM/C was primarily performed on girls between the ages
of four and 11 and was regarded as “cleansing” a girl child in Somali culture.
"Some people still believe that a girl is not ready
for marriage until she is cut," she said.
Awareness campaigns
Hussein said NAFIS was engaged in awareness campaigns
targeting "not only the mothers and the girls but the men, particularly
the young men of marriageable age. We want to tell these young men that
circumcision does not enhance or add to a girl's value as a wife and a
mother."
However, Hussein said progress has been slow, attributing
this to resistance from mothers and fathers who believe their daughters would
be unmarriageable if they were not circumcised.
"We have been using the policy of total eradication
as our guiding principle but it does not seem to be working as well as we would
like," Hussein said.
"Elders and religious leaders are supporting our
efforts and it is making a difference," she said. "However, it is not
enough and more needs to be done."
Men’s support
Involving men, particularly religious leaders, in the
campaign to eradicate FGM/C had been effective. "Their involvement has
removed some of the myths that somehow the practice has a religious
significance," Hussein said.
Sheikh Abdirahman Ibrahim, a Muslim scholar, said FGM/C
was in "total contradiction" to Islamic teaching.
"It is haram [prohibited] to cause physical or
psychological damage to the human body; there is no question that this practice
does that and more," he told IRIN.
He said Somalis should not be fooled into thinking the
practice was condoned by Islam. "FGM has no basis in Islam."
Ibrahim said schools should also participate in the
eradication of FGM.
"We should put FGM in the education curriculum in
health and religious subjects," he said. "If people see it not only
as a women's issue but as a health and religious issue, it would have a much
bigger impact."
Ibrahim said that as a religious person he would never
allow his own daughters to be circumcised.
Signs of progress
Hussein said that despite the slow pace in persuading people
to reject FGM, activists were making progress.
"This is a practice that has been going on for a
very long time and it will take time to end it," she said. "Some 30
years ago I thought it was a religious obligation, today I know it is
not."
As a sign of improved awareness of its dangers, Hussein
said, activists in Somaliland were using training centres for women and schools
to spread the message.
She said they were taking their campaign to rural areas
where the practice was more rooted. "We are now engaged in coordinated
campaigns in rural areas."
Hawa said she was optimistic that when her daughter had
a daughter of her own, FGM would be "thing of the past".
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