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FGM/C Workshops
In Ethiopia, 74% of women age 15-49 have been circumcised. The harmful practice of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (also known FGM/C or female circumcision) comprises all procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia. FGM/C frequently causes health complications that can last throughout a woman’s life and can even lead to death.
Cultural practices encourage women to be circumcised. Girls who are not circumcised are labeled as promiscuous, and, therefore, unworthy of marriage. The belief also exists that external female genitals are unclean. So, despite the many deaths, complications in pregnancy and childbirth, infection, and the psychological trauma caused by FGM/C, it is still practiced widely throughout Ethiopia, particularly in the Afar region.
The Ethiopian government’s population policy, health policy and women’s policy all promote eradication of harmful traditional practices, including FGM/C, yet social acceptance of the practice is still strong. Regardless of the fact that FGM/C is not religiously based, many people justify FGM/C with religion. Therefore, involving religious leaders in any effort to eradicate the practice is crucial.
To effectively address the issue of FGM/C in the religious community, PMC-Ethiopia developed and held 7 FGM/C awareness programs in Ethiopia in 2007. Two of the workshops were organized for religious leaders and community leaders in the Afar region; another two were organized for religious and community leaders in the Somali region; and three more workshops were organized for religious leaders and community leaders at the national level, women leaders, and youth leaders.
The Awareness Creation Workshop for religious leaders of the Afar region was held from July 30th to August 1st, to discuss the practice of FGM/C and what religious leaders can do to help eradicate the practice.
Thirty religious leaders from different zones of the Afar region participated in the workshop. The workshop was also attended by representatives from the Office of the Supreme Sharia Courts, the Islamic Affairs Bureau and the Women’s Affairs Bureau.
Sheik Mohammed Awael Hayat, President of the Supreme Sharia Court of the Afar region, gave opening remarks at the workshop. In his speech he declared that FGM/C was an inhumane practice and that the daughters of Prophet Mohammed had not been circumcised; therefore FGM/C has no religious grounds and should be discontinued. He asked all areas to eliminate all forms of female circumcision.
Aysa Mohammed, Head of the Women’s Affairs Bureau, also spoke. She talked about her own experience being circumcised and growing up in the Afar region. She personally had suffered many of the consequences of FGM. She went on to say that the type of circumcision that is practiced in Afar is simply butchery and is beyond the imagination of the developed world, and she explained the importance of putting a stop to the practice.
During the workshop, each zone met and created an action plan to eradicate harmful traditional practices. The decision was made to share the action plan with other members of society and particularly community leaders. The goal is to have the action plan accepted by all sectors of society. A declaration was also developed to express the commitment of all workshop attendees to eradicate all harmful traditional practices, including FGM/C.
Photo from FGM/C Awareness Workshop for Religious Leaders in the Afar Region
On August 1st, the leaders came together to issue the following declaration:
1. We condemn all harmful traditional practices and female circumcision, of all types, as they do not have religious ground and support.
2. We have committed ourselves to educate the public in mosques, schools, and other convenient places about the baseless belief that female circumcision is a religious obligation.
3. We have given the responsibility of follow-up of this declaration to the Islamic Affairs Bureau, Office of the Supreme Sharia Courts and the Women’s Affairs Office of the region. We, religious leaders, will do all in our capacities to mitigate and ultimately eliminate FGM/C.
4. The role that all sector bureaus and particularly health, education, and culture and tourism bureaus can play in this endeavor is high. We thus call upon these government sectors to join their efforts in the elimination of these harmful traditional practices.
5. We highly appreciate PMC and Save the Children Norway for their initiative to conduct research on harmful traditional practices in the region, their development of a four-year plan to work in Afar region and for organizing this awareness creation workshop for religious leaders. We call upon PMC to continue providing appropriate support in the future to the effort that will be to eliminate FGM/C in the region.
This workshop was the first part of a comprehensive strategy to eradicate the practice of FGM/C in Ethiopia. PMC uses a Whole Society Strategy to strengthen the impact of communications initiatives. PMC-Ethiopia launched its newest radio serial drama, Sibrat throughout Ethiopia in September 2007, with a storyline about the risks and negative consequences of FGM/C. The program also addresses other issues of reproductive health, including family planning and prevention of HIV infection. The workshop was funded by Save the Children Norway.
