Category: 1110

This column of “Did You Know…” is intended to help inform and educate our readers on the practice of FGM.  This week, we will take a look at Somalia, and how far that country has come toward ending the practice.

Somalia is known as the country located in the “Horn of Africa”.   It is bordered by Kenya, Djibouti, Egypt, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to the north.  The capital is Mogadishu.

According to statistics, ninety-five percent (95%) of girls in Somalia undergo FGM between the ages of 4 and 11.  Culturally, the expectation for girls to undergo female genital mutilation is closely associated with sex and marriage. It is believed that the men expect the girls to be virgins when they marry them.  There is also the myth that if a girl has not undergone female genital mutilation, she is considered unclean and will not remain a virgin up to the day of marriage.  The girls are cut and the remaining skin is stitched together and is only opened on the day of marriage.  That opening entails another cutting.

A couple of years ago, the officials in Somalia were looking into ending the practice of FGM.  Some of the girls at the time felt that even eliminating the stitching (Type IV – Infibulation) would have been an improvement to what they now undergo.  The Infibulation type leaves the girls with only a very small opening, which accounts for painful urination and menstrual cycles.

Out of that ninety-five percent of Somali girls, are some world renowned women today; former fashion models, Iman and Waris Dirie and British Activist and Teacher, Hibo Wardere are three of the survivors of FGM from Somalia. Following their high fashion careers, both Iman and Waris spoke out against the practice of FGM.  Waris has authored several books, including her personal story; and she has spent most of her adult life advocating and campaigning for an end to the practice of FGM.  Today, Hibo is one of the biggest activists against FGM in the world.  She is known throughout the U.K. as a Mediator, Trainer of FGM and an Anti-FGM campaigner.

Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation launched a special campaign petition on Change.org in August of this year to the U.S. Department of Education.  The organization which advocates on behalf of women and girls against female genital mutilation has set a goal to collect at least 200,000 signatures; this is in its plight to get the U.S. Department of Education to include at least one lesson in its curriculum on female genital mutilation (FGM) in the elementary and middle schools.

The organization believes that educating the children from an early age, most especially the popular age range of seven through thirteen about the practice of FGM is crucial.  The sooner the children are aware of the practice, the more likely thousands of girls in the U.S. can be spared from undergoing female genital mutilation.  We need your signature to meet our goal.

To sign the petition, please click the link below and watch the video:

https://www.change.org/p/us-department-of-education-include-one-lesson-on-female-genital-mutilation-in-us-elementary-schools

By signing this petition, you are making your voice heard.  You are joining the thousands of concerned citizens, not only of the United States but of the world to say that the practice of female genital mutilation must be stopped.  You are saying that there is no longer a place in the world for atrocities and violence against woman.  It is a tradition that is older than five centuries but it is tradition that plays no positive role in a girl’s life; instead it can hinder her ability to bear children, and produces a lifetime of both physical and psychological pain.

If you have questions or comments about the campaign prior to signing the petition, please contact us at info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org.

In Virginia, we are located at 901 South Highland Street, Suite 319, Arlington, Virginia 22204 and in Washington we are at 3920 Alton Place, NW, Washington, D.C. 20016.  The hours of operation at the Arlington location are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 10:00am until 3:00pm for appointments and at the Washington, D.C. location, only Wednesday and Saturday 10:00am until 12:30pm.  All appointments and information are held confidential.