In rural areas, of Egypt, more than 250,000 girls are circumcised, without their consent, each year (Murphy). This is not a choice that they make, it is a choice that the mother or father of these girls makes. If these girls were to grow up in urban Egypt, would it still happen? The answer is that it usually would not. The oppression of young girls is typically limited to the rural areas of Egypt. In Egypt, in 1996, it was against the law for girls to have this procedure. However, that did not stop the procedures from happening. Instead, the clinics just disappeared. Parents could simply call the barber down the street and he would bring in a razor and antiseptic and start cutting parts of the labia. This would cost around seven dollars to have done (Murphy). There would be no guarantee that their daughter would come out alive, but that is a choice made by the parents; this is not the choice of the child, because of Egyptian law.
Homosexuals are, also, treated harshly in Egypt. The government chooses to discriminate against individuals, who do not even have a choice about their lifestyle. The Egyptian police raided a Disco in May 2001, arresting thirty-eight men and a dozen women, these individuals were arrested for no reason (Ackerman). These violations, against women and homosexuals, are unfair and should be stopped. The Egyptian government should not be allowed to take away the civil rights of homosexuals and women, because it is abusive, inhumane, and repressive.
The first offense is that young girls are circumcised. In 2005, 96% of girls age 4-12 have been circumcised (Slackman). One mother told her daughter she was being taken to get her blood drawn, but when the young girl woke up she was unable to walk. Why would a pers...
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...ers Human Rights Activists." KRT News Service. 07 Jun 2003: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 24 Nov 2013.
Azimi, Negar. "Prisoners of Sex." New York Times Magazine. Dec. 3 2006: 63-67. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 24 Nov 2013.
El-Magd, Nadia Abou. "Group Can't Defend Gays in Egypt." The Call (Woonsocket, RI). Feb. 11 2002: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 24 Nov 2013.
Gauch, Sarah. "Egyptian Human Rights Take a Hit with Tough New Law." Christian Science Monitor. 20 Jun 2003: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 24 Nov 2013.
Murphy, Caryle. "'Mother, This Isn't Fair of You': Egyptians Opposing Female..." Washington Post (Washington, DC). Aug. 28 1994: A1+. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 24 Nov 2013.
Slackman, Michael. "Voices Rise in Egypt to Shield Girls from an Old Tradition." New York Times (New York, NY). Sept. 20 2007: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 24 Nov 2013.
Female genital mutilation is mostly practiced in Islamic and African cultures, claiming young girls as t...
Back in the day David Cameron blamed the human rights movement for perverting people’s morale and trumping the security of the public order. Shami Chakrabarti, a human rights activist, argued that the state suppresses human rights who are in the core of the civil society. Another scholar, Naomi Klein, argued that the real issue is that human rights and other moral concepts are wrongly distanced from politics, while in reality they are closely intervened.
There have been many humanitarians that strive to help countries suffering with human right abuses. People think that the help from IGOs and NGOs will be enough to stop human rights violations. However, it hasn’t been effective. Every day, more and more human rights violations happen. The problem is escalating. People, including children, are still being forced to work to death, innocent civilians are still suffering the consequences of war, and families are struggling to stay firm together. Despite the efforts from the people, IGOs, and NGOs, In the year 2100, human rights abuse will not end.
Schattuck, John. “Overview of Human Right Practices, 1995,” Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. March 1996: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 10 Oct 2013.
"I remember the blade. How it shone! There was a woman kneeling over me with the knife. I bit her; it was all I could do. Then three women came to hold me down. One of them sat on my chest. I bit her with all my might." These words reflect Banassiri Sylla’s account of her experience undergoing female circumcision, also known as female genital mutilation (FGM), at the young age of eight in the Ivory Coast. This disturbing description of her struggle makes it hard to understand why any culture could support such a practice. Yet, it is estimated that about 132 million women and girls in about thirty African countries have undergone the same, or at least similar, cultural procedure as Banassiri. According to the World Health Organization, about two million girls undergo female genital mutilation every year and the percentage of women circumcised is as high as ninety-eight percent in countries such as Djibouti .
Freedom of choice is a desire for most, but as we are young we depend on the decision of our parents. With this dependent nature of a child the freedom of choice is limited, for males this can lead to a life long consequence. Male circumcision is the surgical removal of the foreskin; the skin covering the head of the penis. Circumcision is practiced for religious purposes in Jewish and Muslim communities. Normally, the boy’s age varies from 4 to 11 years old. In the United States, this procedure is also done but without a religious purpose. The boys in this case are commonly newborn. This practice became popular after medical groups claimed that there were many health benefits that came with circumcision. Though it has been proven otherwise, it is still a common practice in the U.S. fueled by ignorance. Circumcision is an unnecessary surgery that leads to psychological problems, issues with sexual activities and lasting physical damage.
‘Return of the Pharaoh’ is the English version of the prison memoir of Zainab al-Ghazali. The book aims to expose to the world the cruelties and savagery she had to suffer at the hands of the Nasir regime. Zainab al-Ghazali was one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood and the founder of the Muslim Ladies Group. While the Brotherhood held a pan-Islamic view and worked towards incorporating Islam as a way of life rather than a religion, the Muslim Ladies Group trained women for the same purpose and also participated in welfare and relief activities. The title of the book is extremely interesting; it reflects the utter contempt the author holds Nasir in, and vice versa. Her hatred is so strong that she calls him a “Pharaoh”, an ancient Egyptian king who declared he was God and persecuted people who believed otherwise. The title is not only attractive and intriguing, but also appropriate, for the book demonstrates many of Nasir’s qualities that bring him on par with Pharaoh himself. For instance, instead of swearing by Allah’s name as most Muslims do, Nasir’s associates swear “by (the might of) Nasir”, as if HE were their god. Nasir also believes in eliminating all opposition just like Pharaoh did. He imprisons, persecutes and eventually kills many Brotherhood members and their sympathizers. Although Muslim by name, Nasir was opposed to all those who carry the message of Islam and seek to establish it in their lives. The title could not be more appropriate, as the reader gradually finds out.
Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage Or Violation of Rights?" Guttmacher Institute: Home Page. Frances A. Althaus. Web. 15 June 2010. .
Ibnouf, Fatma Osman. “Women And The Arab Spring.” Women & Environments International Magazine 92/93(2013): 18-21. MasterFILE Elite.Web.31 Mar. 2014.
Sherwood, Harriet. "Christians in Egypt Face Unprecedented Persecution, Report Says."The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 10 Jan. 2018, The article accentuates, "
Women’s rights in Yemen have not changed since (or before) the unification of North and South Yemen in 1990. Since the unification, new laws and a constitution (that are still placed on Islamic Shari ‘a law) that are in place unfortunately hold these statements to be true. According to Amal Basha some of Yemen’s laws that stereotype, discriminate, and demeanor women include: the value of the life of a woman, or girl is equal to half that of a man or boy and if a man performs a “honor kill” the maximum punishment he can face in prison is one year, compared to women who face death if they dishonor their husbands, women cannot leave the country without permission from a male relative, if women are imprisoned and do their punishment, they are not allowed to leave prison unless a male relative approves of it, there are no lega...
Zayan, J. (2011, February 14). Egypt Activists and Army Discuss Reforms. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved December 7, 2013, from http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/egypt-activists-and-army-discuss-reforms-20110214-1as8u.html
A female circumcision is a procedure that can be exceptionally painful; this procedure can be completed in a clean environment with the use of proper surgical instruments (Burnor & Raley). Nonetheless, this procedure can also be completed “by a relative with knives, razor blades, or even sharp rocks. Many women suffer infection, bleeding, and other complications. Some women die as a result of the procedure” (Burnor & Raley 69). In life, every living thing must be respected; for instance, Fauziya Kassindja was being forced to undergo a female genital mutilation in her home country—Togo. Being forced to undergo such procedure is morally wrong; especially since it is a painful procedure that can bring misery into one’s life.
If a society deems an action as right, within that society that action will be right (Rachels, 27). The moral codes of a society are closely tied to what they believe is right, not what the rest of the world would say is right. In many societies the practice of excision is deemed acceptable and right. There are many justifications for performing this practice on young girls. Men say it makes sex more pleasurable, others say it makes women more faithful and less likely to sleep around. These reasons justify the painful procedure and the loss of a woman’s sexual pleasure. Other societies may say that the practice is wrong. It takes away a women’s pleasure and it harmful and painful. The societies that practice excision have deemed this action to be right within their society, which makes this practice
The one question people ask themselves when thinking of female circumcision is, “is this a human rights issue?” and “how do we end this practice?”. The debate of whether female circumcision is mutilation and therefore abuse comes up right along with the topic of female circumcision. The fact that this act is