Gambia Bans FGM

[nucklehead]

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/11/tackling-female-genital-mutilation

Quote

FEMALE genital mutilation (FGM) is a surgical procedure—conducted for reasons of ritual and tradition—that ranges in severity from nicking the clitoris, to cutting off the clitoris and labia entirely and sewing up the vaginal opening. The practice, which is often performed by people with no medical training, is dangerous and causes serious health problems in later life, especially during childbirth. UNICEF estimates that 125m girls and women alive today have been subjected to some kind of FGM in the Middle Eastern and African countries where it is most common.

So it is good news that in one of them, FGM is set to be banned. On November 23rd the president of Gambia announced that the practice, which affects three-quarters of women and girls in the country, would be outlawed immediately. Yet changing the law may count for little without changing tradition. More than 60% of women said they thought the practice should continue, a disparity also seen elsewhere. The practice has declined in many countries, but most dramatically where it was already rare. The rate of decline is not enough to counter population growth, however. Unless the pace picks up, the number of victims will grow from 3.6m a year now to 4.1m in 2035. As the United Nations launches a campaign to end violence against women this week, Gambia's actions are a signal that culturally sanctioned violence will, at least, no longer be legally condoned.

Pretty sobering numbers in the chart of % of women by country that have had the procedure (100 in Somalia) and % that think it should continue.

In another article

http://www.theheraldng.com/gambia-finally-abolishes-female-genital-mutilation/

president Jammeh states:       "For 21 years, I have been researching from the Qur’an and consulting religious leaders whether female circumcision is mentioned in the Qur’an but I did not find it there.”

According to him, for 21 years, he has seen Gambian women succumb to fistula, cervical cancer and also dying in labour due to FGM. He warned that if any person is found practicing the act now, the circumciser, as well as that village’s head and parents of the female child will face consequences.

[inane]

21 years of religious study. Time really well spent.

Bold move though. Next on the agenda, a motion to discuss the effectiveness of stoning.

[falcon45ca]

Great news for the future of Gambian women. It's rather tragic how many thought the "tradition" should continue.

Now let's get rid of all genital mutilation, women & men alike. Nobody should be cutting or snipping anybody's genitials without informed consent.

[nucklehead]

^hmmm yeah too late for me. But apparently I was asked what I thought and I clapped my hands and screeched so they took that as consent. Decades later I'm still good with it though.

And yeah 21 years?? 21 hours should have been sufficient.

[Lancaster]

9 minutes ago, nucklehead said:

^hmmm yeah too late for me. But apparently I was asked what I thought and I clapped my hands and screeched so they took that as consent. Decades later I'm still good with it though.

And yeah 21 years?? 21 hours should have been sufficient.

Lucky you didn't have to go through it as an adult..... consent is way overrated for male circumcision. 

 

As for female circumcision... there's is absolutely no benefit with it whatsoever.  Wasn't it started as some backward way to verify vaginal virginity?