Liberia
In the early 1800’s Liberia was founded by a group of white Americans, the American Colonization Society (ACS), to become the first African republic. The original intention behind the republic was to deal with the overwhelming population of freed black slaves in America. February 6th, 1820 The Mayflower of Liberia set off from New York with Liberia’s first 86 settlers. Liberia was the second, behind Haiti, black republic in the world.
Getting the first settlers to their new home was the easy part, once they arrived to their destination the conditions were everything but what the colonist hoped for. With Liberia being on the west cost of the country the living conditions were harsh. The land was swampy and made it very unhealthy
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Statistically speaking women in Liberia have less access to education, health care, and justice in comparison to men in the country. The gender divisions in the country are evident. Women typically clean, cook, and take care of children and their hard work is rarely acknowledged. Men are always seen as the breadwinner. Land owners in the country are prominently men. Although it’s 2014 and the president of Liberia is a women injustices still happen to women regularly. Arranged marriages aren’t unheard of or uncommon, and some places in Liberia still partake in female genital mutilation (FGM) or female circumcisions. Genital mutilation is the ritual of removing some or all of the external female genitalia. This practice is typically performed by a traditional circumciser with a blade or razor, and this can be with or without anesthesia. FGM is known to be practiced in 27 different African countries as well as a hand full of places around the world. As tradition has it (though it can vary depending on the country or girl) most girls are cut before the age of five. Once again, depending on the country the procedure can differ. Some include the removal of the clitoral hood and clitoris, and in the most severe cases removal of the inner and outer labia. It isn’t unheard of for the closure of the vulva as well, leaving just a small hole for urinating and the female’s menstrual cycle. Female Genital Mutilation is just one practice that is formed around gender inequality, attempts to control women, it conveys the idea of purity, and
Female genital mutilation is mostly practiced in Islamic and African cultures, claiming young girls as t...
As a nation, America did not become imperialistic until the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, under whom the U.S. acquired its first foreign colony. America did have a significant influence in Liberia, despite a void of military presence. The American government’s ban on slavery and the ensuing anti-slavery campaign led to the rise of the American Colonization Society (ACS) in 1817. The ACS, headed by Robert Finley, bought land on the West Coast of Africa in what is now called Liberia. This project was funded by members of the ACS and the American government, the latter of which donated one hundred thousand dollars in 1819.
It was a difficult life for the first colonists; they had limited labor and were constantly raided by Native Americans. Colonists tried to use the Native Americans as a source of slavery. Most of the colonist’s farms were in forest areas so Native Americans would just leave in to the woods. Colonists were afraid of pressuring them from the fear of getting ambushed by gangs of Native Americans. Another reason Native American men made bad slaves was because the women in the tribes did the agricultural work in the Native American villages.
It 's a realm of justice and morality beyond and superior to particular countries, cultures, and religions (page 31).The article “a rite of torture for girls”, illustrates the push of human rights on different cultures. In Africa and East Asia, several societies practice female genital mutilation (FGM). The text states the girls, sometimes as young as ten years old, genitals are carved out including the clitoris and labia, and then everything is sown up with only a little hole for urine and menstrual blood. Often, this procedure is done with no anesthetic. Human rights advocates rally that it 's against the basic rights as a human being. For over forty years weathers have advocated against FGM with no success. Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism come into play when advocating against other cultures traditions and beliefs. Western societies compare their own culture to the groups in Africa and East Asia. In order to see why these people are cutting their girls, one must look from their point of view. Many participate in gentian cutting to ensure that the virtue of the girl is still intact. Like in Turkish society, possessions and power are handed down through the male lineage. Cutting girls ensured there is no question of who the father of the child is. Using these four concepts interplay when viewed in
Liberia owes its establishment to the American Colonization Society; founded in 1816 to resettle freed American slaves in Africa. An attempt at colonization in Sierra Leone had failed in 1815. Six years later native rulers granted a tract of land on Cape Mesurado, at the mouth of the Saint Paul River, to U.S. representatives, and the first Americo-Liberians, led by Jehudi Ashmun, began the settlement. In 1824 an American agent for the society, Ralph Randolph Gurley, named the new colony Liberia and the Cape Mesurado settlement Monrovia. Other separate settlements were established along the coast during the next 20 years. Soon, however, conflicts arose between the settlers and the society in the United States. By the time Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first black governor in 1841, the decision had been made to give the colonists almost full control of the government. A constitution modeled on that of the United States was drawn up, and Liberia became an independent republic in July 1847. Roberts was its first president, serving until 1856. Liberia was recognized by Britain in 1848, by France in 1852 and by the United States in 1862. The Americo-Liberian communities eked out a precarious existence during the 19th century. Claims over i nterior territory were disputed not only by the indigenous Mandinka (also known as Mandingo or Malinke), Kru, and Gola peoples, but also by European states that did not recognize Liberian jurisdiction over the interior. U.S. support led to a series of agreements with Britain and France between 1892 and 1911, which marked the present boundaries. (Liberian control over the interior peoples, however, was not completely assured until the 1940s.) Loans from Britain and the United States partially eased the country's financial difficulties. Liberia declared war on Germany on August 14, 1917, which gave the Allies an additional base in West Africa during World War I (1914-1918). In 1926 the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company opened a rubber plantation on 400,000 hectares (1 million acres) of land granted by the Liberian government the year before. Rubber production became the mainstay of the nation's economy.
Liberia, located in the west part of Africa, was a settlement to native Africans in the 1800’s would eventually stablish a settlement consisting of thousands of individuals, freed or non-slaves. This was an attempt of resolving the moral issue of enslavement by colonizing Liberia with freed, or ex-slaves. Not only were freed black men transported across the Atlantic, but women as well. No provisions had been made to ensure equality as a foundation to colonize which causes the issues misogyny and with the lack of historical content of women in Liberia the need for further analysis it is noted that women were hardly acknowledged and only seen as an object in creating a bigger population needed
Also, America and Europe then began to regard the practice with increasing criticism. According to the article “Female Circumcision,” the writer says that,” France and England, for example, have instituted education programs in schools and hospitals, hoping to help teachers and health care workers better recognize not only victims of female circumcision but those who might be at risk.”Many African countries such as Sudan, Senegal, Yemen, Chad, Liberia and Mali have already signed. Though this is a great first step, and other policies must be implemented and enforced. It is clear that there must be specific laws banning female genital mutilation in each African country. In 1994, Ghana passed a law, which explicitly prohibits FGM, and many others followed it. Those countries who are still hesitating are also invited to do so. Enforcing these laws proves yet to be difficult. Doctors’, nurses’ and midwives’ professional associations must take a clear stance against FGM and pass regulations forbidding their members to perform the procedure. The doctors must then refuse to practice FGM in their communities, as well as educate their people on the medical risks and harmful results of undergoing FGM.
Female genital mutilation, also known as female circumcision, is a practice that involves the removal of part or all of the female external genitalia. It occurs throughout the world, but most commonly in Africa where they say that it is a tradition and social custom to keep a young girl pure and a married woman faithful. But to some Westerners, the practice is viewed as being primitive and barbaric. We react with disgust and find it nearly incomprehensible that female genital mutilation can occur in the world today
Female circumcision is a horrifying procedure that can be defined as the removal of the clitoris on the body of a female. The surgery is often accompanied by ceremonies intended to honor and welcome the girls into their communities. It can be observed in parts of Northern Africa and Southern Arabia where many girls undergo ritual surgery involving removal of parts of their external genitalia. About eighty million living women have had this surgery, and an additional four or five million girls undergo it each year (Kouba and Muasher). This tradition is prevalent and deeply embedded in many countries, including Ethiopia, the Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Chad, Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Eritrea, Ivory Coast, Upper Volta, Mauritania, Nigeria, Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, and Egypt (Abdalla). It is usually performed between infancy and puberty. From a Western point of view, it may seem unnecessary and vulgar. However, these ancient practices hold significant meaning to the people who practice it. They are supposed to promote chastity, religion, group identity, cleanliness, health, family values, and marriage goals. Although it is conducted with good intentions, tragically, the usual ways of performing these surgeries deny women sexual orgasms, cause significant morbidity or mortality among women and children, and strain the over-burdened health care systems in these developing countries. These practices are often referred to as ‘female circumcision’, but those who wish to stop them increasingly use the description ‘female genital mutilation’. My paper will explore the various forms of female genital mutilation, it’s deep association with the patrilineal system in Africa, and the efforts to stop this tragedy.
Female genital mutilation is not a new practice. In fact circumcised females have been discovered among the mummies of ancient Egyptians. A Greek papyrus dated 163 BC refers to operations performed on girls at the age they received their dowries. A Greek geographer reported the custom of circumcision of girls he found while visiting Egypt in 25 BC. In Africa female circumcision has been reported in at least twenty-six countries and can be viewed as a public health problem “because of its wide geographic distribution, the number of females involved and the serious complications caused by the operation.”
Female Circumcision, also known as Female Genital Mutilation is the cutting partial/ total removal of the external female genitalia (Clitoris, sometimes the labia of girls or young women). It’s done for non-medical reasons, being that different parts of the world still practicing it, it’s consider a part of tradition, cultural beliefs and is religious. Female Genital Mutilation, FGM is usually performed on females from the age of infancy to young women, mainly done before the first menstrual period. FGM is generally being done in the Middle- Eastern part of the world and mainly in many parts of Africa. With the World Health Organization, WHO signed with nine United Nations including The United States have eliminated FGM.
In Searching for “Voices”: Feminism, Anthropology, and the Global Debates over Female Genital Operations, Walley discusses the social issues concerning female genital operations as perceived by “westerners”, as well as discusses her ethnographic account of female circumcision. Her main purpose of doing this was to lay the groundwork for “a more productive feminist and anthropological debate” capable of going beyond the binary terms in which female circumcisions are usually discussed. Since female circumcisions are known by a variety of names, such as female genital mutilation and female genital torture, and with her understanding of the negative connotation often associated with those varieties of names, Walley makes the decision to adopt the term female genital operations instead. In 1988, Walley went in the village of KiKhome, in western Kenya as an English teacher and immersed herself in the lives of the people living around the village to better understand the practice of female genital operations as an outsider. One day, some of her students invited her to assist at a female genital operation ceremony. She found out that the participants see circumcision as a rite of passage into adulthood. However, she truly wanted to know the participants’ personal views on the topic rather than the imposed views of their parents and their culture. The four women she interviewed told her that “their custom was good,” and it was something that a person needs to accept with her whole being not to feel the pain. Nevertheless, some of the women told her that they would not want their daughters to undergo circumcision, and that they themselves regretted having done the procedure. Walley finally gave up “searching for real voices,” because what t...
Imagine an innocent five year old girl told to wake up in the early morning under the pretext we will go to a market and we will buy you a new dress but instead blind folded and held down by strong adult hands and your genitals mutilated without any anesthesia or pain killer. This is the horrific practice a large number of girls going through. According to the World Health report “More than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut 29 countries in Africa and Middle East where FGM is concentrated and if there is no reduction in the practice between now and 2050, the number of girls cut each year will grow from 3.6 million in 2013 to 6.6 million in 2050(UNICEF, 2013 PP 2).” As you read this paper you can imagine how many innocent little girls go through unbearable pain everyday and forced to live with the consequences of female genital mutilation for the rest of their life. In this paper I will discuss Why Female genital Mutilation is a public health issue and show the interdependence of the five public health dimensions to the topic.
Thomas, Irene. "Genital and Sexual Mutilation of Females: Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria." WIN News Winter 1998: 34.ProQuest. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
It is generally performed with a sharp object like a knife or razor. It is extremely painful and performed without any anesthetics. FGM can cause severe scarring, chronic pelvic infection, urinary problems, kidney failure, and sometimes infertility. If you are able to conceive a child, child birth is very painful and can even result in the death of the mother during labor. FGM may be done in order to ‘cleanse’ a girl, in the belief that it is more hygienic and will stop unpleasant genital secretions and odours as the child develops to maturity, or may also be done for an early marker of belonging to a particular group, perhaps carried out when the child is only a few days or weeks old. ("What Is Female Genital Mutilation? Why Does It Occur? What Are Its Health And Wellbeing Impacts?”) “FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an extreme form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a person 's rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death.” ("Female Genital Mutilation”) But yet it is