Transcript An overview of Progresses and Constraints in the Fight

Progresses and Constraints
in the Fight Against
Female Genital Mutilation
in Africa
African Women's Rights Observatory UNECA
Meaza Ashenafi Mashenafi @uneca.org
International Conference on FGM in the EU
Brussels, Belgium • April 15-17, 2009
Content
 Background
 Standards, Principles and Laws
 Legal Gaps
 Violence Against Women as a Human Rights
Violation
 Recommendations
Background
 Definition: FGM refers to all procedures of total or partial removal of
or injury to the external female genital organ for non-medical
reasons
 Types of FGM (WHO modified typology, 2007):
Type I: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and /or the prepuce (Clitoridectomy)
Type II: Partial or total removal of the clitoris and the labia minora, with or without
excision of the labia majora (excision)
Type III: Narrowing of the vaginal orifice with creation of a covering seal by cutting and
appositioning the labia minora and/or the labia majora, with or without excision of the
clitoris (Infibulation)
Type IV: Unclassified; all other harmful procedures to the female genitalia for non-medical
purposes for example, pricking, piercing, incising, scraping and cauterization
 Prevalence:
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Occurs in all parts of the world
Most prevalent in Western, Eastern and North-eastern Africa
100-140 million girls and women in the world are estimated to
have undergone the procedure ; 3 million girls are estimated
to be at risk ever year
Continued
 Age: Mostly children under 18
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Mali, Mauritania and Ethiopia: 50% on children under 5
Egypt: 90% between 5 - 14 years old
 Harm (WHO study in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan and
Senegal):
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Survivors suffer postmortem hemorrhage
Survivors face greater risk of requiring caesarean section,
episiotomy and extended hospital stay
Infants of survivors of the more extreme forms of FGM
(Types II and III) face increased risk of dying at birth
Continued
 Progress:
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Governments, International organizations and CSOs are
more actively engaged in defining standards
However change is painfully slow
In high incidence countries such as Egypt, Sudan, Mali,
Gambia, Guinea, Djibouti decline in prevalence rate is quite
low
 Data: Date on prevalence rates based on estimates derived from local
and sub-national studies is available for 28 African countries (WHO
2007 - See annex)
Standards, Principles and Laws
 Several international conventions and declarations prohibit
discrimination against women and violence against women
including Harmful Traditional Practices (HTP)
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culture and tradition cannot be used as a pretext to continue HTPs
governments need to take all necessary actions including administrative
and legislative measures
 Article 5 of the Additional Protocol to the African Charter on
Human and People’s Rights (The African Women’s Protocol)
was the first international convention to name and prohibit FGM
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ratified by 26 African countries
signed by 45 African countries
 FGM has been criminalized in 16 of 28 practicing African
countries - mostly thorough amending criminal laws but also by
enacting independent legislation devoted to FGM
Gaps in Anti-FGM Laws
•
Usually no grace period between enactment and
enforcement in African countries (unlike in the USA and
some of Europe)
•
Kenyan, Ugandan, Tanzanian and Egyptian laws only
protect children under 18 though FGM is sometimes
practiced after 18 to symbolize the rite of passage to
womanhood (It is assumed that girls over 18 are able to
exercise free and full consent)
•
Moderate penalty might increase enforceability (5-10 years
imprisonment as in Ghana is a relatively high penalty)
Violence Against Women (VAW)
as a Human Rights Violation
 Some countries such as Burkina Faso and Ghana are making
efforts to enforce laws:
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Burkina Faso has convicted 94 FGM cases since adoption of the 1997 law
banning FGM
Judges in Burkina Faso have used discretion to mitigate the impact of penalizing
family members in cases where they are accomplices to the crime by punishing
only one member and suspending penalty against the most essential member to
sustain the family
 Of the various public awareness and community mobilization
strategies used to fight FGM, the human rights approach which
emphasizes the use of international and national laws to protect
victims is the least utilized
 Law enforcement must complement time and resource-intensive
public awareness and community mobilization for sustainability
 Most importantly the universality and non-violability of human
rights for all must be reaffirmed
Recommendations
 Laws: All African countries where FGM is practiced should enact
anti-FGM laws. Extensive consultations taking into account the
gaps identified in already existing national laws should precede
adoption of new laws.
 Enforcement: The human rights approach is crucial in the fight
against FGM; law enforcement should be a key tool in
accordance with the 2003 Cairo Declaration for the Elimination
of FGM.
 Europe: European countries have provided crucial support to
Africa at both multilateral and bilateral levels and by supporting
activities of civil society organizations. Existing movements to
eliminate FGM in Europe among migrant communities should
be linked with current efforts in Africa.
Continued
 External factors: All stake holders concerned with issues of
women's rights in general and FGM in particular should reflect
on how to reposition their strategies in light of the current global
financial and environmental crises. Women's issues should not
be neglected in resource allocation and political visibility.
 Leadership: Young and new activists should be nurtured and
empowered to become more visible to ensure continuity of the
fight.
 Advocacy: remains crucial – “ a child who does not cry will die
on her mother’s back”.
Thank you