Stop the Horrifying Female Mutalation

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Recommended: Female genital mutilation and human rights

This paper presents the international community’s efforts to eliminate the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt. The procedure is perceived as a violation of basic human rights and as such, efforts have been made to raise awareness to its damages, illegalize it and to create successful interventions to eliminate it (Shell-Duncan, 2008). The paper focuses on the issue of FGM in Egypt since Egypt shows a high rate of women having gone through the procedure (Boyle, Songora & Foss, 2001). As the risk factors and the possible issues are identified, a locally based solution is suggested as an appropriate and effective intervention. The case of Egypt points out a controversial issue of cultural values vs. universal values and the case of western influence and dominance over other cultures. This controversy influences the way the problem is approached: dictating western values or working with the local community’s values, accusing or empowering, working from the top down or from the bottom up? The paper will offer few conclusions that should be drawn from the successful Tostan experience in Senegal and the FGM-Free Village Model in Egypt, as the basis for successful strategies to eliminate the FGM procedure (Barsoum, Rifaat, El-Gibaly, Elwan, & Forcier, 2009; Easton, Monkman & Miles, 2003). The Problem and Risk Factors According to the 2012-2013 UNFPA-UNICEF report, 125 million women living today have been circumcised in more than 30 countries (Chambel, Belbase & Roberts, 2013). Approximately 3 million girls each year are at risk of undergoing FGM (Chambel, et al, 2013) Egypt shows a high rate of 97% of women that have already undergone the procedure, which is done on girls ages 4 to 15, and in some cultures even at an... ... middle of paper ... ...hat is identified with the western world and should be used with extreme sensitivity when applied to other cultures and their traditions. However, as an international community we have an obligation to follow our moral compass when examining practices that go against are values, such as FGM. The UN and other leading organizations should be mindful of the strategies they choose and tighten the relationship between their frame work and the individual cognition of the targeted population (Boyle & Carbone-Lopez, 2006). The FGM-Free Village project is a successful example of a mindful comprehensive intervention, from both a national and a local level, which encompasses that relationship. In order to make real change, a social worker must be culturally competence and “meet the client where she is at”, whether it be and individual or a completely different nation.

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