EGYPT: Anti-female genital mutilation rally is held in Egypt

A rally against Female Genital Mutilation was held on Wednesday (July 18) in the southern Egyptian town of Maghagha after a young girl from a nearby village recently died during a circumcision operation. The government sponsored rally was attended by several thousand marchers, with schools, universities and civil society organisations all taking part. Genital cutting of girls, often referred to as female genital mutilation or circumcision, is banned in Egypt although the practice remains widespread as a rite of passage for girls and is often viewed as a way to protect their chastity and insure that they will be married. But despite the strong opposition to FGM expressed by the marchers, a Reuters correspondent at the rally reported that most of the people taking part privately expressed support for FGM and scepticism that the practice was responsible for the death of 11 year old Budour Ahmed Shaker. At Wednesday's rally, the girl's sister, Asma, described what happened at the private medical clinic where her sister died, reportedly after being given a heavy dose of anaesthetic. "My mother she was outside, I told her, mother the doctor went in to her [my sister] and was pressing on her heart. She asked me - "what does that mean, did your sister die?" I told her - "I don't know." The nurse told me "you're ruining our reputation. Nothing happened to your sister." I told her "No, she's dead. She died inside," she said. Another man at the rally said that the practice should be eliminated for several reasons. "It's an inherited habit. It should be stopped, it should be stopped because it harms girls. And afterwards it decreases their sexual desire with relation to their husbands," he said. Wednesday's rally in Maghagha was sponsored by the National Council on Motherhood and Childhood and was intended to use Shaker's death to highlight a government sponsored campaign to eliminate the practice of FGM. It was also intended to the publicise a national ban on FGM that was strengthened on June 28th with the elimination of a legal loophole allowing girls to undergo the procedure for health reasons. The march on Wednesday was attended by the Governor of al-Minya, Fouad Saed al-Din, as well as the head of the National Council on Motherhood and Childhood, Mushira Khattab. Khattab said that changes in the law as well as a new telephone hotline to report the practice would help eliminate it. "There should be supervision by the masses through calling the children's rescue line - 16000 - a free line that doesn't cost anything. And the person who calls, if he wishes he can give his name or not, as he wishes. But for us, through this line, and in cooperation with the Governors, and the ministers and civil society, we go to that place and prosecute the person who carries this [FGM] out, whoever he is, doctor, nurse, barber and even midwives. And some people are saying that after the new decision from the Minister of Health the midwife can still do this [FGM], and we say no, the midwife also will be prosecuted and will be punished very harshly. And there is a project to put forward a new law in front of parliament supported by the National Council of Motherhood and Children," she said. The recent changes instituted by the health ministry cancelled out a 1996 provision to the law which had permitted the operation "in situations of illness" should doctors advise it. Governor Saed al-Din said the government was trying to educate the next generation in particular about the dangers of FGM. "Everyone is involved with us in our plan, beginning with increasing the consciousness of men and women and children and university students, because they are the parents of our future generations. There will be tough supervision with regards to any cases that occur, whether from doctors, but thankfully they are following the law, or from midwives," he said. Under the new law anyone involved in carrying out the operation can be prosecuted, with fines in place between 1,000 and 2,000 Egyptian Pounds and potential jail terms of up to 2 years. Despite the show of public opposition to FGM at yesterday's rally, a majority of the marchers interviewed by a Reuters correspondent said that they still supported the practice. Many of the mothers taking part defiantly said they still intended to have their daughters circumcised and many of the girls taking part said they had either recently had the operation done or would in the near future. Most of the marchers also privately said that they did not blame the operation for the girl's death but rather medical mistakes made by the doctors involved. One girl taking part however, Maha Daoud, said she was opposed to the practice. "If someone teaches us from when are very small we will become aware of what the meaning of medicine and FGM is, and everything with regards to this, and we will teach our kids and, God willing they will be very good," she said. The government and religious figures in Egypt have led a top-down campaign to eliminate the practice of FGM, in particularly by withdrawing any perceived religious sanction for it. Egypt's state-appointed Grand Mufti, in the strongest statement yet on the issue by the government's official arbiter of Islamic law, said last month Islam forbade the "harmful tradition of circumcision" of girls. The Grand Sheikh of Cairo's prestigious al-Azhar mosque, Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, has also described the practice as un-Islamic, though some other clerics have supported it. Both Tantawi and Coptic Pope Shenouda, the leader of Egypt's minority Christian community, have said that neither the Koran nor the Bible demand or mention female circumcision, which is usually performed on pre-pubescent girls. The practice involves cutting off part or all of the clitoris and other female genitalia, sometimes by a doctor but also often by a relative or midwives. Side effects include haemorrhage, shock, and sexual dysfunction. Female genital cutting is performed on both Muslim and Christian girls in Egypt and Sudan, but is rare elsewhere in the Arab world. It is also common in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. The Egyptian doctors' syndicate has launched a probe into the death of Budour Ahmed Shaker and warned doctors against performing the procedure either in homes or medical facilities, citing "detrimental health effects" on girls. After Wednesday's rally, a minute of silence was held for the deceased girl, and Mushira Khattab said the girl's death would lead to change for the better. "I would like to say to Budour's mother, that Budour's death was not in vain. Budour sacrificed with her life to save many other girls who could have victims," she said. A 2005 UNICEF report found 97 percent of Egyptian women between ages 15 and 49 had been circumcised. Egypt's campaign to end female cutting has included television programs aimed at persuading parents to abandon the ancient practice. Despite the public campaign and events like Wednesday's rally, support for the practice remains deeply ingrained, and will likely claim many more young victims before any real change occurs.

ITN Source | July 20, 2007

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