Category: 071916

An Exclusive will return in the month of August.  Join us then, when we bring you another fascinating person.

A young Maryland woman has launched a special drive here in the United States.  Francess Cole, a Sierra Leone native is collecting sanitary napkins for adolescent girls in Sierra Leone who cannot afford to purchase them.

Cole told Global Woman Newsletter, “I remember when I was a young girl in Sierra Leone we could not afford sanitary napkins.”  She continued, “I had to improvise by using cloth and making homemade napkins.”

According to Francess Cole, many girls in Sierra Leone are forced to stay out of school during their menstrual periods because they cannot afford sanitary napkins during that time of the month.  Some girls remain at home up to five days each month or as long as their periods last.  Sierra Leone is listed as one of the poorest countries in the world; therefore their schools cannot afford to hand out sanitary napkins to female students.

“I know what I went through as a girl in Sierra Leone, and I don’t want to see anymore girls stay out of school every month only because of the lack of sanitary napkins, something we take for granted in the US.”  Cole explained.

Cole also survived female genital mutilation at the age of ten in Sierra Leone.  She continues to advocate against the practice, both here in the U.S. and in her country of origin.  She insists that the Sanitary Napkin Drive is closely related to the practice of FGM; since majority of the same adolescent girls who are forced to remain out of school during their monthly periods were once subjected to FGM procedure.

Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation has teamed up with one of its partners, the National Association for Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs to assist Francess Cole and the FA Cole Foundation in collecting sanitary napkins for her drive.  When asked how many napkins she has set as an annual goal? Cole responded, “Unlimited – I do not want to tag the drive with a number.  Whatever we cannot afford to ship in a year, we will roll it over to the next year’s shipment.  There cannot be too many napkins at this point.”

Ms. Cole has plans to return to Sierra Leone every year to distribute napkins in person and will also hold workshops for young girls and women.

Sierra Leone, Mali and Liberia are the three West African countries that have yet to put a ban on the practice of FGM.

The head of the United Nations Population Fund has, for the first time, described female genital mutilation as “child abuse”.

The following story was first written and published in the Health section of the BBC News on Friday, July 15, 2016.

Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin told the BBC that the custom was a human rights abuse and needed to end immediately.

More than 200 million women and girls around the world have undergone the procedure, where parts of the female genitals are removed.

The United Nations estimates a further three million are at risk of being mutilated.

Dr. Osotimehin said: “There is absolutely no reason to cut anybody, and it seemed to us that it is part of the gender imbalance that has always existed in these communities which are based on patriarchy. I think its child abuse.”

Female Genital Mutilation is “child abuse and gender based violence”

The organization had previously referred to the practice as a human rights violation, but has stopped short of calling it child abuse.

FGM is practiced mainly in parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

It involves the partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

Some countries in Africa are working to change traditional perceptions of FGM.

At the moment about one in five women in Kenya has been cut.

But the UN children’s charity, UNICEF says Kenya could eradicate the practice in the next 15 years.

However, deeply entrenched traditions in some communities in this region, and across the world, make this a major challenge.

We have received inquiries about how one may register to participate in the Walk to End FGM.  Here are step by step instructions on how to register.  Visit www.globalwomanpeacefoundtion.org, scroll down and click on the  button and follow the instructions.  The Walk page is simple to navigate.  Here are other ways in which you may get involved:

• Register as an individual participant
• Form a team and invite others to join your team and help raise funds
• Join a team that is already formed
• Register as a virtual participant and help raise funds (if you are unable to attend)
• Sponsor a team or an individual participant or sponsor the event
• Be a Partner Organization with Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation in the Walk to End FGM
• Register as a volunteer

 

To volunteer, contact us at info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org or call 703-818-3787.  Register at www.globalwomanpeacefoundation.org and Walk to End FGM.  Click on the link below to see some highlights of our 2015 Walk to End FGM.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/fbis-new-mission-combat-female-genital-mutilation

Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.  As such, your donations and registration fees are tax deductible to the maximum extent required by law.

45 Degrees Project stages their 3^rd annual summer performance in both Chicago and Washington, D.C. this August.  Directed by Elana Anderson, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater presents “45 Degrees Project” on August 7^th through 13^th in Chicago and on August 15^th through the 21^st Joy of Motion Dance Center presents “45 Degrees Project” on its stage in Washington, D.C. at 1333 H Street, NE, Washington, D.C. 20002.  For tickets and additional information visit: www.joyofmotion.org.

Vacation without Excision (Vacances San Excision)!  The second annual Vacances San Excision will be held Friday, August 12^th and Saturday, August 13^th.  Imagine 2 full days of teaching the children (boys and girls) about the enjoyment and safety of vacation.  The first of its kind in the U.S., Inter-Africa Committee (IAC-USA) launched its Vacances San Excision (Vacation without Excision) in August of 2015.  They had great success and decided to make the event an annual one.  Held at 20021 Aircraft Drive, Germantown, Maryland 20874, this camp is expected to provide boys, girls and parents with the knowledge they need for a safe vacation, free of mutilation/cutting (Vacances San Excision).  The camp is free of charge with lunch and refreshments.  Register as many children as you have.  Join us on both days or choose one of the 2 days.

If you need overnight accommodations for the Walk to End FGM…The official hotel of the Walk to End FGM is the Double Tree by Hilton, Crystal City at 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington, Virginia 22202.  A special negotiated rate is available when you register for the Walk.  The deadline for making your hotel room reservation is September 14, 2016.    If you call to book your hotel reservations, make sure to ask for the FGM 2016 Walk Room Block rate.

If you book online, make sure you click on this link to make your room reservations.

Volunteers Needed:  Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation is in search of volunteers for their 3^rd annual Walk to End FGM in the nation’s capital on Saturday, October 15, 2016.  Volunteers’ responsibilities are: Arrive early, set-up, on-site registration, T-shirt and bag distribution, oversee donations, supervision of the tents, coordinate pre-walk ceremony, seat speakers and guests, coordinate photo-ops and pre-walk interviews.  All volunteers will have free registration for the walk.  A special registration code will be provided once you have been approved as a volunteer.  If you are interested in being a volunteer for the Walk to End FGM send an email to info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org  and put in the subject line, “Volunteer”.

Save the Date: Saturday, October 15, 2016.  Plan to join us for the Walk to End FGM 2016.  We will release the list of our speakers later this month.  Registration is now available at www.globalwomanpeacefoundation.org.  Call 703.818.3787 or email info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org for additional information and volunteer opportunities.  Follow us on Twitter @1Globalwoman and “like” us on FaceBook www.facebook.com/globalwomanpeacefoundation.

The book, Female Mutilation authored by Hilary Burrage has been released in the US and Canada.  The book is currently on sale at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation highly recommends Female Mutilation for high school students and anyone who wants to learn more about the practice of FGM/C.  To read the author’s blog about the Inter-African Committee Geneva conference, visit here https://hilaryburrage.com/2016/05/12/un-geneva-my-book-launch-at-the-iac-conference-on-fgm/ and to purchase a copy of the book, visit  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/female-mutilation-hilary-burrage/1123329211?ean=9781742576077

The guidelines to submit an announcement are to appear in this newsletter:

• The length of announcement must be no more than a paragraph of 6 lines.
• Your announcement should be something that pertains to women, girls or students, such as events, walk-a-thons, conferences, etc.
• If there is an accompanying image, it must be no less than 72 dpi, preferably in jpeg.
• Your announcement must be received no later than the Thursday 5:00pm prior to the following Tuesday publication.
• Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation reserves the right to deny a submission if it is not within our guidelines.

Do you enjoy playing with words?  This is a fun way to see how well you can unscramble the following words.  We will reveal the unscrambled words in next week’s edition of the newsletter.  If you enjoyed this, write and give us your feedback to info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org.

Can you unscramble the following five words?

This Week’s Scrambled Words

TARYSANI KINSNAP (2 WORDS)

HILDC USEBA (2 WORDS)

RD. MEHINOSOTI (2 WORDS)

LLECTOCING

RIVED

 

Last Week’s Scrambled Words                               Last Week’s Unscrambled Words

SESAC                                                                                   CASES

ANTSGRIM                                                                         MIGRANTS

ANYMERG                                                                          GERMANY

BAIMUN                                                                              MUMBAI

DIDELM TASE                                                                  MIDDLE EAST

We give you five scrambled words each week.  We hope you enjoy playing.

Here are some of the ways you can help and support our programs in 2016:

• 
• Donations (including in-kind donations) globalwomanpeacefoundation.org
• Partnering (collaborating in one of our programs and/or events)
• Joining our Internship or Student-Ambassadorship Program
• Volunteering
• Donate through employer payroll deduction (through Your Cause, United Way or the government employee giving program)
• Sign our Petition

We are located at 3920 Alton Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20016.  The hours of operation by appointments only are Wednesday and Saturday 10:00am until 12:30pm.  All appointments and information are held confidential.

Important Contacts in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area to Keep Handy

Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation               703-818-3787

National Child Abuse Hotline                              800-422-4453

Fairfax County Office for Women                       703-324-5730

Virginia Crime Victim Assistance                        888-887-3418

Montgomery County Abused Persons Program   240-777-4673 (24 hours)

Prince Georges County Sexual Assault                301-618-3154

Prince Georges County Child Advocacy Center  301-909-2089

Baltimore City Child Abuse Center                     410-396-6147

Frederick County Child Advocacy Center           301-600-1758

Howard County Listening Place                          410-313-2630

Washington County Child Advocacy Center       240-420-4308

District of Columbia Metropolitan Police             202-727-9099

Alexandria Victim/Witness Program                    703-746-4100

Arlington County Victim/Witness Program         703-228-7273

Loudon County Victim Witness Program             703-777-0417

Prince William County Victim/Witness                703-392-7083

Attention: The U.S. government opposes FGM/C, no matter the type, degree, or severity, and no matter what the motivation for performing it. The U.S. government considers FGM/C to be a serious human rights abuse, gender-based violence, and, when done to children, a form of child abuse. It is against the law to perform FGM/C in the United States on a girl under the age of 18 or to send or attempt to send her outside the United States so FGM/C can be performed. People who violate this law can face prison time and significant immigration consequences. Additionally, anyone who performs FGM/C on a woman 18 years old or older without her consent may be charged with a crime under other laws.  If someone performed FGM/C on you, you have not violated any U.S. laws and are not at fault, call 1-800-994-9662.