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Now we know what it is. Now we know where lies our tragedy.
We were born of a special sex, the female sex. We are destined in
advance to taste of misery, and to have a part of our body torn
away by cold, unfeeling cruel hands.
--Nawal El-Saadawi after experiencing female genital mutilation,
The Hidden Face of Eve.
One can read story after story of the terrifying experience young
African girls undergo in the name of "tradition"; it is
their story of female circumcision, or female genital mutilation.
The "West" has increasingly heard these stories as African
women empower themselves and speak out. Nawal El-Saadawi, Egyptian
writer and political activist wrote of her experience in 1980 in
The Hidden Face of Eve; she continues to speak out against female
genital mutilation and subjugation of African women. Since roughly
1979 following a World Health Organization regional conference in
Khartoum, numerous human rights organizations--UNICEF, the World
Health Organization, the Organization of African Unity, the Inter-African
Committee, among others--have dedicated time and resources to the
eradication of the practice. CNN aired a special on female genital
mutilation in 1994. Fauziya Kassindja, a young woman from Togo,
caught the attention of the media and human rights organizations
in 1995 when she sat in prison for eighteen months trying to gain
political asylum in the United States, claiming female genital mutilation
violated her human rights.(Note 1) She was granted asylum in a precedent-setting
case on April 24, 1996 (Kassindja 471).
Despite growing worldwide interest in female genital mutilation
as a "universal" human rights violation, the practice
continues in at least twenty-six of forty-three African countries
(Note 2) (Reymond 1), and more than forty countries worldwide, including
the United States and Britain among Muslim immigrant populations
(Maher 1). An estimated 100 to 135 million girls and women have
been subjected to FGM, and an estimated two million girls are at
risk every year (WHO FGM fact sheet, p. 6). The issue of FGM has
been addressed by international organizations since 1952 when the
UN Commission on Human Rights raised the issue for the first time.
Since that time, FGM has been part of an ongoing discussion in at
least twenty-one UN conferences and conventions (WHO FGM fact sheet
21-24), many regional (African) conferences, and international women=s
conferences. The issue has been addressed by individual African
countries, the Organization of AfricanUnity, the Inter-African Committee,
and Amnesty International and other NGOs. Yet, the practice continues
with very slow progress toward eradication.
Tradition is the primary reason given by those who continue to practice
FGM on their daughters (Slack 448). It is practiced primarily by
Muslims, and mistakenly thought to be required by Islam; the practice
itself actually precedes Islamic influence in Africa and may be
as old as 6000 years (Walker 57). But FGM, like many African cultural
traditions, is complicated by a long and turbulent history of contact
with the West. Traditions become not only symbolic of community
solidarity, but an opposition to oppression, a representation of
independence. Thus, understanding FGM as a tradition also facilitates
in understanding why Western/universal human rights and their organizations
have had little effect on changing or ending this practice; FGM
must be an internal struggle involving and understanding of the
meaning of tradition. For a continent that has been battered by
colonialism, any eradication programs must take into consideration
in what context this traditional practice continues--a context which
supports cultural identity and opposes the West. Given the often
antagonistic relationship between Africa and the West, eradication
of a traditional practice must be the result of a primarily internal
process of economic and educational improvement. It must be African
women who empower themselves to end this practice; this can not
be a decision made and executed by Western feminists who have little
idea of the African Muslim woman's experience.
I. Female Genital Mutilation--the Practice
Female genital mutilation (FGM) is practiced as far north as Egypt,
as south as Uganda, and from Cote d'Ivoire to Somalia. Girls from
a few days old to just a few days before their wedding are circumcised.
The World Health Organization defines female genital mutilation
as Aall procedures involving partial or total removal of the external
female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs whether
for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons. The "operation"
is generally done by a midwife in an unsterile setting and with
no anaesthetic (A joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA statement). Few African
families take their daughters to professional health care practitioners,
one, because the practice is criminalized in many states, and two,
very few can afford to. The WHO tries to remain objective when describing
FGM, giving rational arguments to support eradication, but real
women's stories are painful and frightening.
Very few remember anything but pain. Lightfoot-Klein has discovered
that those who do not remember the pain tend to be more heavily
wracked with other psychological problems (see Lightfoot-Klein 247-288).
Both immediate and long term complications are many and often severe.
Immediate complications include hemorrhage, shock, infection, urinary
retention, and injury to adjacent tissue. Long term complications
include bleeding, urinary retention and tract infection, incontinence,
keloid formations and dermoid cysts, permanent infections, severe
pain in sex and childbirth (due to keloid scar tissue), psycho-sexual
dysfunction and depression, to name only a few (WHO FGM fact sheet
10-13).
The most common reasons given by those who practice FGM for continuing
this practice are tradition, (misunderstood) religious demands,
promotion of social and political cohesion, enhancement of fertility,
prevention of promiscuity, preservation of virginity, maintenance
of feminine hygiene, aesthetics (Harvard Law Review 1949), and marriageability
of girls within their community or neighboring communities (Koso-Thomas
5). All of these reasons reinforce the power of the patriarchal
system and its subjugation of women within much of Africa. Julie
DiMauro notes that AThe cultural practice of FGM was designed to
subjugate women by controlling their sexuality and by preserving
patriarchal attitudes with respect to marital and sexual relations
(334. Also see Koso-Thomas 24). Thus, female genital mutilation
is part of a larger patriarchal tradition which also denies women
access to economic freedom, a right to divorce, a right to their
children, among other denials of rights. How do we then understand
tradition (patriarchal or otherwise) as the primary motivation of
FGM, where it comes from, and how and why it is perpetuated?
II. Female Genital Mutilation--Tradition
Tradition or custom lies at the root of any cultural group cohesion.
Traditions, as Kwame Gyekye argues in Tradition and Modernity: Philosophic
Reflections on the African Experience, are the result of many generations
justifying the need for a particular practice viewed as beneficial
to the community as a whole. FGM was and is considered a beneficial
practice by those who continue the tradition. Mothers who have their
daughters circumcised, although they are acutely aware of the pain
and suffering, are doing it out of love for their children, believing
it is in their daughter's best interest. A girl's prospects for
livelihood are generally limited to marriage; most tribal men will
not marry an uncircumcised woman. FGM may have begun centuries ago
to protect young girls working in the fields from being raped by
other tribes or as a primitive kind of population control (Slack
445). Today it is considered to be a cleansing and aesthetically
pleasing thing to do.
FGM could have two of possibly many points of origin, which assist
in understanding why it started, why it continues. First, there
is the philosophical inquiry into the role of ritual, ritual being
the physical manifestation of tradition.(Note 3) Why did African
cultures begin a practice like FGM? Rene Girard, in Violence and
the Sacred, discusses why ritualistic traditions begin and why they
continue. Blood plays a central role in ancient societies' understanding
of the world around them; it signifies life, death, and violence.
ABlood serves to illustrate the point that the same substance can
stain or cleanse, contaminate or purify, drive men to fury and murder
or appease their anger and restore them to life (Girard 37). Women
easily become the focal point in matters of blood due to childbirth
and menstruation; both activities take on a symbolic meaning for
the ancient society, and both "mysterious" activities
make the vagina a focal point for symbolic formation. This symbol
formation (here, purity and cleanliness) is relevant to Islamic-African
societies as well. As previously mentioned, one of the reasons for
practicing FGM is cleanliness or "purification." Further,
Muslim women follow a strict cleansing regiment following their
menses (See Kassindja). Girard writes, A . . . there is nothing
incomprehensible about the viewpoint that sees menstrual blood as
a physical representation of sexual violence. We ought . . . to
inquire whether this process of symbolization does not respond to
some half-suppressed desire to place the blame for all forms of
violence on women (36). Both sexual violence (often thought to be
brought on by "female wiles" in patriarchal societies)
and menstruation must be curbed or controlled for the sake of peace;
a logical outgrowth of this is to eliminate the source of sexual
pleasure/violence (all sexual activity encompasses some degree of
violence, according to Girard), i.e., the clitoris, and sew shut
the area which is the source of this violence and blood, thereby
solving the problem. The dismembered female genitalia then becomes
the physical sacrifice to appease a god, or such a source that may,
in the eyes of ancient peoples, understand the mystery of life,
death, and their intimate connection to blood. African societies'
reasons for continuing the practice of FGM support Girard's philosophy:
it is a purification or cleansing process which involves blood in
every aspect--the cutting, coitus (with infibulated women), menstruation
(or the slowing of), and childbirth; a way to control sexual desire
in women, and prevention of promiscuity in women, both of which
involve violence either in the act of sex itself or a reaction to
adultery.
The practice of mutilation, of course, is not limited to women.
Male sexual organs also become the focal point of sacrifice as seen
in Judaism and Islam.(4) Alison T. Slack notes that both forms of
circumcision/ mutilation began (before Islam or Judaism) as a part
of traditional puberty rites, and may be an outgrowth from human
sacrificial practices (443-45). Jeannine Parvati Baker argues that
fear The of a Adominator society and its rules is at the core of
this sacrifice/mutilation. She writes that "Cultural patterns
of violence are inherited through the way we are treated by those
entrusted to protect us (179), creating a tradition. Human beings
feel compelled to alter the sexual organs due to, as Girard argues,
a fear of sexuality itself and the violence it encompasses, as well
as the mystery sexuality once encompassed for ancients in the form
of childbirth and menstruation.
Girard also notes, "Like the animal and the infant, but to
a lesser degree, the woman qualifies for sacrificial status by reason
of her weakness and relatively marginal social status. That is why
she can be viewed as a quasi-sacred figure, both desired and disdained,
alternately elevated and abused (142). This statement serves to
differentiate FGM from male circumcision, which is less fraught
with domination and patriarchy, though it is just as fraught with
fear of sexuality and the idea of sacrifice. A second cultural element
in FGM as a tradition, why it began and why it continues, is the
role of women in patriarchal African society, historically and today.
The history of ancient Africa has revealed that these societies
possessed a strong matriarchal component. In African Feminism: The
Politics of Survival in Sub-Saharan Africa, Gwendolyn Mikell discusses
women's roles in African society. In pre-colonial Africa, male-female
roles and responsibilities were clearly designated, yet the responsibilities
of women were not necessarily viewed a less valuable. She notes
that A . . . traditional African cultural principles and social
status factors allowed women to participate publicly in society
prior to European and Muslim interventions . . . (Introduction,
17). Nawal El-Saadawi notes similar things concerning ancient Egyptian
women, noting that a system of matriarchy was significantly altered
by the advent of private property 3500 years ago (108). Both women
argue, in essence, that the interpretation of Islam in Africa and
the damage of colonial power reinforced a patriarchal system, doing
great damage to the status of women.
Religious tradition--Islam--is the second most popular reason given
for circumcising girls, following the vague and nebulous reason
simply called "tradition" or "custom." It should
be noted that FGM is also practiced by a few Christians, Animists,
and Jews in Africa (Slack 446). Islam is the primary religion in
which FGM is practiced. Islam, together with colonizing by Western
Christian nations, is a key component in perpetuating patriarchy,
in whose best interest it is to continue to subjugate women, one
way being through the practice of FGM. FGM is not traditionally
a part of Islam, as is revealed by Egyptian mummies who were circumcised
(Slack 445). According to ancient Egyptian mythology, male and female
possess both a feminine and masculine soul. The female's masculine
soul is located in the clitoris, while the male's feminine soul
is located in the prepuce. At the time of puberty, these respective
parts must be cut away so that a male will be fully male and female
fully female (Lightfoot-Klein 29). Another proof that the practice
is pre-Islamic lies in the fact that 80% of the Islamic world does
not practice FGM, most notably it is unknown in Saudi Arabia--the
cradle of Islam, or Iran. Hanny Lightfoot-Klein notes that, AIn
Egypt it is largely confined to the Nile valley, suggesting a Pharaonic
rather than Islamic origin (41). Africans incorporated already-existing
traditions into their new religion, revealing the strength of "tradition"
in and of itself. Mohammed, though he speaks of male circumcision,
says nothing in support of female circumcision. El-Saadawi points
out that Mohammed directly speaks out against the practice of FGM.
FGM was wide-spread in the pre-Islamic Arab peninsula. She says,
AMahomet the Prophet tried to oppose this custom since he considered
it harmful to the sexual health of the woman. [He says,] "If
you circumcise, take only a small part and refrain from cutting
most of the clitoris off . . . The woman will have a bright and
happy face, and is more welcome to her husband, if her pleasure
is complete" (39). The words of Mohammed have been misinterpreted
by African Muslim religious leaders and others to mean that he was
in favor of female circumcision.
Illiteracy in Africa serves the same patriarchal system. Because
many Africans (more women than men) are illiterate, they do not
have the opportunity to interpret the Qur'an for themselves. Often
religious leaders continue to perpetuate the myth that Islam requires
FGM; this is done simply for the sake of continuing their control
over a large portion of the population. Lightfoot-Klein quotes the
official position of Islamic jurists in countries where it is practiced:
AFemale circumcision is an Islamic tradition mentioned in the tradition
of the Prophet, and sanctioned by Imams [religious leaders] and
Jurists in spite of their differences on whether it is a duty of
sunna (tradition). We support the practice and sanction it in view
of its effect on attenuating the sexual desire of women and directing
it to desirable moderation" (42). Farida Shaheed writes of
the position in which most Muslim women, including African women,
find themselves: "Fear of being pushed beyond the collectivity
of one=s nation, religion, and ethnic group, of being cast out and
losing one's identity, militates against initiating positive action
for change. Under these circumstances, questioning, rejecting, or
reformulating 'Muslim' laws is indeed a major undertaking and one
that women--isolated as they are and collectively the least powerful
social group . . . are ill-equipped to face" (83). Hanny Lightfoot-Klein
in Prisoners of Ritual and other researchers have discovered that
many African women would like to challenge the practice of FGM,
but fell powerless in a patriarchal society. Women often accept
their inferior societal role and perpetuate their own suffering
because patriarchal society and tradition leave them little choice.
With few options, the African woman uses tradition as her source
of agency. Tradition as agency is exacerbated by the desire of religious
and political leaders, as well as women, to oppose Western influences
which roundly denounce the practice of FGM.
III. When Tradition Meets the West
Kwame Gyekye theorizes about tradition and its counterpart, modernity,
in Tradition and Modernity: Philosophical Reflections on the African
Experience. He argues that tradition is not something that is passively
transmitted from one generation to the next, but that each generation
must justify the continuation of a tradition (221). He further argues
that a community will eventually change or abandon a tradition that
does damage to it, continuing only that which is beneficial (262).
He gives full credit to traditionalist societies--which many African
societies are considered--in making a conscious decision to continue
a tradition. It is often a weakness that Western writers consider
that a practice like FGM is ignorantly and unconsciously passed
from one generation to another; the West to cannot fully comprehend
the African point of view, and remain the speculating outsider.
African communities and African families often do see value in continuing
FGM. Men in communities which circumcise women insist that marriageable
women must be "clean," i.e., cut. Mothers know that their
daughters must be cut if they are to find a husband; thus, there
are legitimate economic reasons for a parent's interest in having
their daughter circumcised. In some tribes, the female genitalia
are thought to cause problems in childbirth, impotence in a man,
infections in a woman, etc. (Lightfoot-Klein 38-40, Koso-Thomas
9); under such false beliefs, parents' best interest is for the
health of the child. When tradition alone is considered, Gyekye
could be quite correct; it may eventually be discovered by these
African communities, armed with more education, that babies don't
die in birth when their head touches the clitoris (Lightfoot-Klein
38), and that men can function normally with an uncircumcised woman.
A patriarchal system would not necessarily need to continue FGM
given the many other tools of oppression they possess to use against
women. Yet, the practice of FGM continues. What Gyekye does not
explore is the conscious political reasons for continuing a tradition;
in the case of much of Africa, the traditional becomes the political
in the face of colonialism and Western imperialism.
The list of repercussions from Western colonial rule in Africa are
familiar to anyone who has come across colonial literature. Franz
Fanon writes in depth of the psychological damage done to the "native"
by the "settler," Chinua Achebe expresses in his novels
the profound destructive effect Westerners had on traditional African
culture, and Nawal El-Saadawi is filled with outright anger toward
the damage done not only by her own government, but past colonialism.
Rhoda Howard, in discussing Africa, colonialism, and universal human
rights, gives a laundry list of common human rights violations practiced
by the British in colonies, including those states in Africa. She
mentions subjugation by violence, British governmental control,
"preventative detention" of suspicious (and sometimes
not at all suspicious) black Africans, forced labor, forced military
recruitment, and forcible confiscation of African land for white
settlers (9). It was these "run of the mill" colonial
behaviors that help to form the antagonistic African impression
of the West.
Like Islam, Western colonialism in Africa hurt and subjugated women
more than any other sector of the population. Western colonialism,
due to Western patriarchal precepts, encouraged the further subjugation
of women in Africa. Traditional female customs and women's economic
role in their society came under colonial attack (Mikell, Introduction).
Mikell notes that "Westerners often felt compelled to intervene
in African cultural practices that included women (polygyny, "forced
marriage," clitoridectomy, widow sacrifice) and which were
viewed as repugnant, un-Christian, and in need of changing"
(18). African men were encouraged by colonial powers to take a leading
role in local markets; they took over economic activities once controlled
by women such as selling food (that women were still responsible
for growing) and selling clothing made by colonial powers. Clothing
was once made and sold by African women; this, and the food market,
were once women's source of economic power (Mikell 18). In 1946
British-ruled Sudan passed a law which criminalized FGM. "This
law proved not only ineffectual, but actually cause a political
backlash under the leadership of Mahmud Mohammed Taha against colonial
control. The population promptly pharaonized [infibulated] its daughters
. . ." (Lightfoot-Klein 43). Following decolonization, in the
1950's and '60's, African communities openly opposed the West and
any further role the West attempted to take on within Africa's increasingly
traditionalist societies.
In the face of the colonial experience, many Western scholars still
approach African studies, or specifically studies of traditional
practices such as FGM (as a human rights violation) as either universal
or culturally relative. From a Western perspective, it is easy to
accept the idea of "universalism"; a concept which holds
that Acertain moral tenets are universally applicable. This theory
purports that every person is endowed with a core set of fundamental
rights simply because he or she is a human being. Universalists
contend that cultural traditions are, "irrelevant to the validity
of moral rights and rules, which are universally valid" (DiMauro
337). On the other hand, the doctrine of cultural relativism claims
that "the variations that persist among autonomous groups should
generally be immune from criticism and remediation by outsiders"
(DiMauro 336). Scholars who discuss FGM, or any "universal"
human rights issues, invariably take a position on this continuum
stretching from what Jack Donnelly calls "radical universalism"
(33) to strong cultural relativism. It seems to me to be hubris
alone that says we can approach FGM or any non-Western practice
or culture from this binary opposition, given the African experience
with colonialism and the feeling of opposition that experience has
created. "Universalism" is not universal at all; it is
couched in Western political philosophy from the eighteenth century
forward, and a philosophy of "universal" human rights
is an outgrowth of this Western political philosophy which relies
upon the idea of the rights and dignity of the autonomous individual,
thus making it a concept of Western human rights. While Western/universal
human rights may have the best interest of the individual in mind,
a conflict arises, as in the case of many African communities, when
the rights of the autonomous individual are significantly less important
than the rights and well-being of the community as a whole. Universality
or cultural relativity are in essence subjective terms understood
only through one's cultural experience, making universality as well
as cultural relativity particularities, in effect destroying the
arbitrary binary opposition of these two concepts. Considering either
a universalist or culturally relativist perspective as a legitimate
approach to a traditional practice is in itself imperialist given
that: one, as just and moral as "universal"/Western human
rights may be, this concept is indeed a result of Western political
philosophy and not necessarily a part of any African society's experience;
and two, the entire notion of binary oppositions, like human rights,
is an outgrowth of Western thinking beginning with Rene Descartes.
In short, any plan for the eradication of FGM must be considered
from an African cultural perspective.
IV. Eradication efforts
To end a harmful practice like FGM one needs: greater education,
greater participation in governance, and a better standard of living,
all of which may benefit from involvement of the international community's
human rights laws and monies. Unfortunately, any assistance from
the international community (i.e., generally the more wealthy Western
powers) is fraught with African opposition to Western concepts.
Decolonization brought with it not only resistance to direct Western
involvement, but resistance to Western concepts such as democracy
and capitalism as well. New governments in Africa formed in the
1950' and '60's were "social experiments," antagonistic
toward Western republicanism, and generally resulting in oppressive
military dictatorships (Ayittey 126). Since international/Western
assistance in the form of resources (as opposed to opinions and
moral standard's) will facilitate an internal effort to end FGM,
this opposition must be dealt with if African regional and domestic
efforts are going to be able to incorporate international resources.
Often the above Western concepts are equated with modernity or modernization;
thus, African traditionalist culture resists anything "modern."
Gyekye argues that tradition and "modernity"--which represents
the West in most perspectives, are not conflictual as they are generally
considered. Part of the opposition to the West includes an opposition
to a "modern" kind of lifestyle which threatens a traditional
lifestyle. He writes, "The truth of the assertion that every
society in the modern world inherits ancestral cultural values implies
that modernity is not always a rejection of the past, but it also
casts serious doubts on the appropriateness of perceiving tradition
and modernity as polar opposites" (217); modernity is then
a form of tradition. Edwin Wilmsen writes in The Politics of Difference:
Ethnic Premises in a World of Power, "The philosophy of modernity
aims to emancipate human beings from the power of privilege (whether
of partitioned wealth, oligarchic governance, class dominance, or
intellectual arrogance) to dictate the terms of human existence"
(19). And finally, Rhoda Howard points out that modernity is not
exclusively Western; African "modernization" does not
mean "Westernization" (27). Thus, African states can "modernize"--meaning
changing the institutions of education and general participation
in government, and economic systems, without feeling as if they
are destroying traditional culture and simply mimicking the West.
In short, tradition can be critically examined and changed under
the right conditions. Old traditions can be exchanged for new ones.
Eradication efforts, then, must consider: the power of tradition;
the opposition to Western attitudes, concepts, and monetary assistance;
and creating in African states their own more modernized or "new
traditional" institutions without equating modern with Western--an
equation which causes all people to suffer. Although eradication
needs material resources from the West, change in attitude and tradition
must be primarily internal. A key question in the eradication process
is, how do African women feel about ending this practice? It has
been clearly indicated in studies that African women, and men with
higher education (high school or college) oppose the practice in
greater numbers, while illiterate women and men tend to unquestioningly
stick to tradition (Koso-Thomas 59, Maher 3, Lightfoot-Klein 58,
Reymond). African women and their communities must be able to make
an informed decision concerning the practice; thus, eradication's
first and most vital step is education. Education concerning FGM,
taken on primarily by the Inter-African Committee and the World
Health Organization, has been the most effective of any given plan
in slowing the practice, but efforts at education have not taken
into consideration the importance of and the motivations behind
tradition. It has focused on teaching just the negative health consequences
of FGM. For education to take into consideration something like
tradition which will not be changed simply by pointing out that
the tradition is not a good one, it must be at a much greater level;
i.e., strengthening the entire educational system in areas where
it is weak. (In Africa, this includes most areas). Greater education
needs support and funding; getting money to the wider population
needs a participatory government where people have a say in how
their government spends its budget, as well as a stronger economic
system. Education must be the result of a multitude of efforts from
a multitude of sources.
Eradication efforts--education, treaties, laws, and moral pressures--for
FGM come from international, regional, and domestic sources. International
sources, driven primarily by Western money and Western precepts
are met with resistance from African communities (HLR 1953) for
the reasons discussed above. In the face of such opposition, international
human rights continues to offer support. There are weaknesses in
international approaches which support the suggestion made by numerous
scholars that resources from international sources for grassroots
African organizations may be helpful, but direct intervention with
moral or judgmental motivations will not be roundly accepted in
Africa. International supporters for the eradication of FGM--including
WHO, Amnesty International, UNICEF, UNFPA, and other UN committees
(Ras-Work 143-44) have strong support for eradication in already
existing treaties and conventions. The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights (1948) (a treaty that went to great pains to be culturally
sensitive) maintains in Article 3, "Everyone has the right
to life, liberty and security of person," in Article 5, "No
one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment," and Article 25(2), "Motherhood
and childhood are entitled special care and assistance." The
problem with this and other UN treaties is the impossibility of
enforcement. The treaty language itself provides activists, African
or Western, ammunition to use against these violations, but no power
of enforcement. The UDHR and other treaties can also be effective
via the UN publication of human rights violations.
Jack Donnelly notes in International Human Rights that "If
rights-abusive regimes take international condemnation seriously
enough to struggle to avoid it, the work of international human
rights agencies is unlikely to be entirely pointless!" (75).
The Convention for the Rights of the Child and the (1989) and the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women--CEDAW (1979) are two additional treaties which support eradication
of FGM.(Note 5) Again, these conventions run into the problem of
implementation. Many Islamic states, including African states, fundamentally
oppose CEDAW on a religious basis (DiMauro 343). DiMauro argues
concerning the Children's Convention, "It is pointless to impugn
the women who subject their children and grandchildren to the practice
of FGM if they did not have the luxury of choosing to do so"
(341); since women must be circumcised for survival via marriage,
then the fundamental problem here becomes the lack of personal empowerment
for women.
Eradication efforts, whether international or domestic, must take
into consideration attitudes of African women. African women have
many of their own reasons for not accepting international human
rights initiatives which stem primarily from their negative experience
with colonialism and Western feminists. African women activists
clearly express: one, the same hostility the power structure possesses
toward what they see as outside, invasive influences; and two, that
FGM, the veil, abortion, or contraception are not their primary
concerns as they are for Western feminists. "Instead, they
are most concerned with the rampant hunger and malnutrition besieging
their children, and the persistence of civil wars which decimate
families and destroy homes" (DiMauro 338-9). The difficulty
in African women's acceptance of outside assistance further immobilizes
any help international organizations can offer. Another problem
which hinders women's acceptance of international treaties is the
treaties' insensitivity to the situation of already circumcised
women. If they possess a right to be a whole and complete person,
and these rights have been violated, then the language of the treaties
imply that these women are incomplete, that their personal integrity
has been compromised. Like many women around the world, African
women do not want to be viewed as victims in need of sympathy. International
treaties are only empowering if they are implementable; international
assistance is most helpful in the form of material resources rather
than influence and opinion.
A further complication in the process of eradication is funding.
Due to colonial exploitation as well as present inefficient governance,
sub-Saharan African states are poor. To improve the educational
standards in an attempt to eradicate FGM and other harmful practices,
African states meed monetary assistance, but international and bilateral
funding to sub-Saharan African has been tantamount to disaster.
Multilateral and bilateral lending has also exacerbated the antagonism
between many African people and the international and Western lenders
due to bad planning. Monies from outside Africa have been ineffective
due to ignorance on the part of the lenders and corruption in African
governments. Monies are not efficiently used, or simply not distributed
to the citizens, and purchasing weapons for the military are disguised
as "development" projects--monies meant for such things
as education (Ayittey 137). Structural adjustment programs fail
because they encourage input from African governments, often corrupt
governments, and include no input from African citizens. The success
of SAP's is measured in a vacuum, without considering civil wars,
environmental degradation, or deterioration of the infrastructure;
thus, plans that look successful and justify increased spending,
in reality utterly fail to improve the standard of living for the
average African (Ayittey 141-42). Like international treaties, African
citizens are less than enthusiastic about multilateral and bilateral
lending programs that seem to do more damage than good.
Many African communities simply will not accept many universal human
rights treaties, or have little use for international lending, because
they are seen to conflict with "traditional" African values;
thus, many African states have signed onto the Organization of African
Unity's African Charter for Human and Peoples' Rights which is similar
to the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but with a stronger
emphasis on community rather than individual rights. The separation
between individual rights and community rights may be as arbitrary
as the separation between universality and cultural relativity,
but once again, cultural perspective is central in finding any plan
to end FGM which is compatible with the African experience of colonialism,
imperialism, and importance of social/community rights. International
human rights organizations could be very helpful if utilized, but
in such a way that they foster grassroots support for FGM eradication,
not only outside or Western moral "support."
Cultural outsiders are not accepted by the ruling elite, but assistance,
especially monetary, may be accepted more openly at lower levels
of society. As mentioned above, many African power structures following
decolonization deny wide participation in governance. If international
human rights organizations and multilateral and bilateral lending
organizations offer assistance and education to the women themselves
or "the dominated," they may have an impact. International
assistance, of course, is in need of a significant overhaul which
allows for funding and empowerment to be obtainable by African citizens
and African NGO's which can best assist African citizens. This assistance
would also be facilitated by SAP's which include human rights agendas
for states borrowing monies.
Just as international assistance, whether in the form of treaties,
well-meaning NGO's, or lending institutions have not had a profound
impact, domestic efforts alone have been of very little help in
eradicating FGM. In many African governments, monies are not reallocated
in such a way as to benefit the larger population (Ayittey). In
other cases, a government may oppose FGM, but laws alone have little
or no effect. Countries with laws against FGM include Burkina Faso,
Central African Republic, Djibouti, Ghana, Guinea, Sudan, (also
Great Britain, Sweden, France, and the United States), yet FGM in
these African countries is still as high as countries with no laws
(Reymond 10). Domestic laws also tend to push the practice underground,
meaning that if girls have severe complications, parents are less
likely to take them to a hospital due to fear of prosecution (Lightfoot-Klein
44-45). Another problem with domestic efforts is the tendency to
medicalize FGM. FGM is usually performed in ritual ceremonies by
traditional birth attendants. As people become aware of the dangers
of FGM, performance of the procedure has been moving into clinical
settings in countries where there is no laws against it. This gives
the appearance that the medical community condones the practice,
potentially increasing the practice, or at least hindering the process
of slowing it down (WHO FGM fact sheets 14).
Despite domestic weaknesses, many African governments do support
the eradication of FGM. These include Benin, Burkina Faso, Central
African Republic, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia,
Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and
Uganda (Reymond 10). These separate states need an organizing force
which can bridge the gap between state and international differences.
Regional organizations are their best option. The Inter-African
Committee (IAC) is one regional organization which is capable of
bridging this gap. Following a conference in Dakar in 1984, the
NGO Working Group on Traditional Practices Affecting the Health
of Women and Children, in collaboration with the Government of Senegal,
the WHO, and UNICEF, organized the Inter-African Committee whose
purpose it was and is to find an eradication solution for FGM and
other harmful traditional practices (Koso-Thomas 107). Even the
IAC=s initial reaction to Western/international interest was negative.
Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh writes in "Jehovah, His Cousin Allah,
and Sexual Mutilations," "In 1984, the Inter-African Committee
stipulated that 'for understandable psychological reasons, it is
the black women who should have the say in the matter.' This committee
asked for restraint, in order that the project might be successful,
claiming that 'the wave of uncontrollable and violent denunciations
of those mutilation on the part of Western countries' was doing
more harm than good" (55-56). Realizing that support from the
international/Western community, especially monetary support, was
vital if they were to be successful. In 1987, having not made an
impact on attitudes toward FGM, the IAC changed their position concerning
the need for international support and laws (Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh
56). Their original position and altered position reveal that this
regional organization has in mind the best interests for African
countries; as it has been shown traditionalism inevitably elicits
such a reaction. It also reveals the pragmatism of knowing that
international monetary support is needed.
The IAC's eradication plan focuses primarily on education. Since
its creation, the IAC has set up national committees in Benin, Burkina
Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia,
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania,
Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania,
Togo, and Uganda (Ras-Work 149). Among other things they pursue
a Training and Information Campaign which provides health education
to African women, research into FGM, and extensive production of
educational materials. They also approach economic factors such
as alternative employment for traditional circumcisers (Ras-Work
149-50).
The IAC, along with statistics from the Demographic and Health Survey,(Note
6) have shown that attitudes among African women are changing as
a result of education, and real numbers are changing as well. In
Kenya, a 1991 survey showed that 78% of adolescents had undergone
FGM, compared to 100% of women over 50. In the Sudan the prevalence
dropped from 99% to 89% among 15 to 49 year old women. Women in
many countries are choosing less severe forms of FGM (Reymond 8).
Reymond also reports that attitudes are also changing, with more
women saying that they will not circumcise their daughters (8).
The DHS and IAC have also recorded declines in actual numbers in
Central African Republic (DHS 1994/1995), Cote d'Ivoire (DHS 1994),
and Kenya (Maendeleo Ya Wanawake survey, 1992) in urban areas (WHO
FGM facts sheets 6-9).
It is roundly accepted that education affects change in attitudes
toward tradition and thus support for eradication. The IAC has approached
its educational campaign in the one way it is capable of doing:
by teaching specific information about FGM to communities with high
rates of illiteracy who have little access to accurate information
about FGM. As noted above, this is clearly having an impact. But
the impact may lessen over time as IAC educators are forced by time
and money constraints to educate one community for only a short
period of time. Unfortunately, once the IAC and other supportive
and educational organizations such as WHO leave an area, social
pressure is sure to bear down on the mothers who do not wish to
circumcise their daughters. Women hold an inferior status in African
communities, and this decision may not finally be theirs. A truly
successful eradication program must be much more profound. It has
been shown that women with higher education, high school and college,
are much more likely to oppose FGM and generally think more critically
of traditional practices in general (Reymond 8, Koso-Thomas 57-58).
Higher education means that women would be freer and more capable
of deciding for themselves. They could read the Qur'an to discover
that it does not support FGM. Education could lead to greater economic
freedom which would allow women to challenge patriarchal power structures.
African countries must pursue broader education programs for the
public in general; this is not an easy process and beyond the scope
of the Inter-African Committee or the World Health Organization.
To increase educational standards means that African governments
must be pressured to allocate funds to education rather than weapons.
Many African countries rely heavily on multilateral lending institutions
such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United
Nations Development Program, etc. Multilateral and bilateral lending
institutions must incorporate, as they are beginning to do, human
rights policies into their structural adjustment programs. African
people must also begin to have a voice in the governance of their
countries. Democratization, like Westernization or modernization,
is often met with resistance because of a colonial experience; nevertheless,
this does not mean public participation is not possible and necessary.
Both education and public participation do not challenge African
cultural precepts. Both human rights are in fact considered social
or cultural rights, the proclaimed focus of African human rights.
The right to education is in the International Covenant on Economic,
Social, and Cultural Rights (Article 13 and 14), yet is not present
in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights--a treaty
considered by many socially oriented communities such as those in
Africa and in China as "Western" in its approach to human
rights. The Organization of African Unity's Declaration, the African
Charter of Human and People's Rights, claims that there is a fundamental
right to education and to participation in government. Article 17
reads: "1. Every individual shall have the right to education.
2. Every individual may freely, take part in the cultural life of
his community. 3. The promotion and protection of morals and traditional
values recognized by the community shall be the duty of the State."
Article 13 reads, "1. Every citizen shall have the right to
participate freely in the government of his country, either directly
of through freely chosen representatives in accordance with the
provisions of the law. 2. Every citizen shall have the right of
equal access to the public service of his country. 3. Every individual
shall have the right of access to public property and services in
strict equality of all persons before the law." Thus, African
particular concept of fundamental rights supports every aspect of
the above argument. Education as well as the right to culture, women's
right to receive an education as well as men's, and public participation.
Traditions are powerful institutions and change cannot be expected
in any short period of time. It took more than 200 years to eradicate
the Chinese practice of binding women's feet; a practice that was
short lived compared to FGM (only 700 years), and lacking the religious
importance (Slack 482-82). As Kwame Gyekye supports, African nations
do not have to change tradition for the sake of the West. They have,
and must have the power to alter tradition for themselves. Cultures
are dynamic; because a practice ends does not facilitate the end
of that culture. Ayittey argues that the international community
as well as Africa's ruling elites, must learn to trust the judgement
of the African people if the African people are going to create
a more empowered existence. And empowerment to end justification
for a tradition could take many, many years.
Notes
1.. Fauziya Kassindja published her story, Do They Hear You When
You Cry, in 1998. She was escaping both FGM and forced marriage.
2.. Some of these countries include Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya,
Liberia, Mali Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia,
Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zaire.
3.. The act of FGM is couched in ritual.
4.. Although many see male circumcision as a human rights issue,
I believe an elaborate discussion of male circumcision, as compelling
a human rights issue as it is, would seem out of place in this paper.
For discussions of male circumcision see Sexual Mutilations: A Human
Tragedy. Eds George C. Denniston and Marilyn Fayre Milos. Plenum
Press: New York, 1996. Especially chapters 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 17,
18, 19, 21, and 22.
5.. Other UN human rights treaties include: The UN Convention on
Violence Against Women (1993), The World Conference on Human Rights,
Declaration and Programme of Action, Vienna (1993), The Programme
of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development
(1994), The Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on
Women (1995), and The UN High Commission on Refugees, Statement
Against Gender-Based Violence (1996). (See FGM, A joint WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA
Statement 10-12, and Reymond 9-10)
6.. The DHS program is funded by the United States Agency for International
Development and implemented by Macro International Inc. To date,
the DHS has provided technical assistance for more than one hundred
surveys in Africa, Asia, the Near East, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
For more information see www.macroint.com/dhs/
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