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Stop FGM in Kurdistan

Campaign against Female Genital Mutilation in Iraqi-Kurdistan

 

The abbreviation FGM stands for Female Genital Mutilation. Sometimes called female circumcision or female genital cutting, FGM is the cutting of the clitoris of girls in order to curb their sexual desire and preserve their sexual honour before marriage. The practice has a tremendous cost: many girls bleed to death or die of infection. Most are traumatized. Those who survive can suffer adverse health effects during marriage and pregnancy. Women and girls are enclosed by a wall of silence. Experts agree that a strict taboo prevents them from speaking about their experiences - which is all the same a main factor for the continuance of the practice.

Women in Iraqi-Kurdistan broke the silence. In 2005, reports stated a cutting rate of nearly 60 % in several rural areas. Activists and physicians reported similar rates from other parts of the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq. As a consequence of the findings, Womens Groups and Human Rights Organizations initiated a broad public debate on FGM in the region.

»Stop FGM in Kurdistan« is a result of the debate. The campaign is initiated and supported by various local and international organizations and aims on and effective ban on FGM through:

• a representative study on the appearance of FGM in the Kurdish region of Northern Iraq;
• a public awareness campaign and an educational program on the physical and psychological consequences of FGM
• the coordination of local organizations to work on a legal ban on FGM.

On occasion of the International Women’s Day in March 2007, an open letter to the Kurdish Regional Parliament was published in all regional newspapers demanding effective steps to ban FGM. In only a few days, more than 13,000 signed the letter -- among them many prominent artists, actors, journalists and writers of the region.

Subsequently, an expert-conference in April 2007 prepared a draft for an Anti-FGM Act. Among the experts were lawyers, physicians, womens and human rights activists as well as representatives from the respective ministries of the region. The draft schedules a ban on the practice of FGM in general, a seperate prohibition of »commercial« cutting by mid-wives, the particular protection of minors and children, an obligation to report for hospitals and public institutions and the appointment of a special state attorney for crimes against women. The draft was handed over to the parliament and the respective ministries end of April 2007.

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