female genital mutilation

Three Sisters

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:10:00 +0000

Three Sisters is part of the Life Series collection which is funded by BBC World and TVE International. The episodes are meant for classroom use from grades seven to twelve, or even college age. This particular episode focuses on the women of Eritrea, a small country near Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia. After fighting alongside men in a fifty-year war for their country's independence from Ethiopia, Eritrean women also won their personal independence. The Life Series follows Belainesh, a member of the Women's Union who is doing community outreach and eduction in the rural parts of Eritrea. She meets three women who are sisters, each battling against a different tradition.

The first sister we are introduced to is Leyla, who is trying to decide whether to circumcise her youngest daughter, even though she knows the methods used are not entirely safe. Female circumcision is performed because it is believed that if a girl is not circumcised, she will not become a true woman. There are many risks to being circumcised because it is done at a young age (under one year old) and is often performed by an elder of the tribe, who may not have full seeing abilities. The wrong area being cut could lead to infection, or even death.

Another woman, Amena, is thirty-five years old and has given birth to all six of her children at her home with no problems. Amena is pregnant again, but now has the option of giving birth at a midwife's clinic, something that was not previously available to her.

The last woman, Howa, is twenty-nine and has four children. She has an opportunity to receive land from the government, but is debating whether she should plow the land herself, given that women are not traditionally allowed to plow.

Belainesh interacts with each of these women in this episode, and informs them of the risks they face if they follow their Eritrean traditions. Belainesh believes Leyla will most likely not circumsize her daughter and Howa will eventually plow her own land, but Amena is still unsure if she is willing to break tradition and give birth outside of her home. The women know that they will eventually take steps toward different life choices, but breaking ties with tradition is a slow and complicated process.

Written by: Chrissie Thornburg, May 12th 2009

The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World

admin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:41:00 +0000

By Michelle Goldberg

Penguin

In The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World, author and investigative journalist Michelle Goldberg uses her abilities to uncover the truth about the reproductive rights (and lack thereof) for women around the world. As we grow into a global community, the politics of sex, child bearing, and child rearing are monumental issues that are overlooked for the convenience of those in power. This book explores the reality of the situation, including many real life accounts of the struggles faced by women in countries that span four continents.

Chapter one begins with a heartbreaking tale of the first victim of an abortion ban in Nicaragua. The country deemed that abortion in any form was illegal. Jazmina Bojorge began suffering a miscarriage and due to fear of legal repercussions the doctors, against their better judgment, gave her medicine to stop the labor because helping her with the miscarriage—that is, terminating the pregnancy—would have been illegal. The delay in action caused her to die. If the doctors could have performed medical assistance in ways that are associated with abortions, it would have saved Jazmina’s life.

The book goes into great detail about the various issues that surround women’s rights and the laws and culture that repress them. Topics include contraception, pregnancy and childbirth, AIDS, female circumcision, abortion, sex-selective abortion, rape, and the role of women in society. The political stances of both the Left and the Right are dissected with suggestions of what should be done and how women can stand strong together to fight against the torment we collectively endure.

The Means of Reproduction is a hard hitting read. Goldberg opens the eyes of the reader to the unjust treatment of women due to reproduction. Feminist activists will be motivated to take stronger action after reading this book. Anyone else will be hit with the realization that they can no longer choose to be ignorant. The facts are stacked up, and it’s time to take action.

This review is cross-posted on Girl w/ Pen.

Written by: Sarah Eve Nichols-Fulghum, March 23rd 2009

Born in the Big Rains: A Memoir of Somalia and Survival

admin — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:44:00 +0000

By Fadumo Korn

The Feminist Press

Born in the Big Rains begins like a beautifully written work of fiction: “In the distance, a lion roared, deep and long, dismissing the night. The air smelled of smoke and freshly brewed tea, and on the horizon the day’s first light chalked the sky.”

But the writing’s rich details and driving action belie that this is no tall tale, but the true story of an adolescent girl, named Fadumo Abdi Hersi Farah Husen, who was born to a nomadic family in Somalia. Her memoir vividly follows an unlikely path, tracing her steps from a young girl living in the wild to learning the other-worldly, big-city life in Mogadishu with her extended family due to severe complications from undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM). When her condition from FGM worsens, Korn eventually leaves for Europe to receive medical help, and finally settles in Germany, where she married and was eventually able to have a child after reconstructive surgery.

FGM is the life-altering event that is the crux of Korn’s autobiography. It is a deep-rooted tradition among some African cultures that is seen as a rite of passage for females in order to purify and cleanse them so that they are fit for marriage. Yet the act is often performed in unsanitary conditions, and the young girls who endure this can suffer the rest of their lives from various health problems (in Korn’s case it was rheumatoid arthritis), and may even die as a result of the surgery.

Born in the Big Rains takes an unflinching look at FGM from recounting the extreme pain of the act itself to the fact that it is often an unquestioned custom based on faulty logic - but Korn does not stop there. She also casts a critical eye toward the racism that has snuck into the controversy of FGM from the attitudes of some outside spectators who condemn the custom, and Korn even exposes her own former shortcomings - as she once perpetuated the belief that only circumcised women were clean and worthy.

Korn now works for FORWARD-Germany, which is an organization dedicated to stopping FGM. Based on her autobiography, it seems as though Korn is the type of person who takes duty seriously and lives her life based on what she believes needs to be accomplished. She may not see her testament on FGM as brave and full of strength, but it is. Hopefully, it will further the cause for eliminating the practice.

Written by: Beverly Jenkins-Crockett, May 28th 2008