La triste réalité des femmes excisées

27 Janvier 2012

L'excision féminine, souvent appelée mutilation génitale féminine (MGF), concerne environ 92 millions de filles de plus de 10 ans en Afrique. En Ouganda, la pratique a été officiellement interdite par le gouvernement en 2009, mais elle est encore pratiquée dans les zones rurales par les tribus comme celle des Sabiny dans l'est du pays.

Libido réduite
Amina Ibrahim, une femme de 73 ans, est conseillère pour la ville de Kapchorwa dans la région de Sebei, au pied du Mont Elgon, dans l'est de l'Ouganda.
Pendant 30 ans, Amina a excisé des jeunes filles, un rite traditionnel qui consiste à couper le clitoris d'une fille vers ses 15 ans, l'initiant ainsi à l'âge adulte.
Elle gagnait environ 10 dollars par excision : "Ce rite sur les filles faisait partie d'une obligation culturelle, mais c'était également une source de revenus pour moi. J'opérais environ 50 filles par jour et j'avais de quoi vivre".
Depuis des générations, les hommes de la tribu des Sabiny ont encouragé la pratique de l'excision, affirmant qu'une femme mariée qui est excisée a un libido réduite et serait donc moins poussée à s'engager dans une relation avec un autre homme lorsque le mari est absent pendant une longue période.
Il était normal pour un homme Sabiny d'éviter une femme non excisée et les anciens n'acceptaient pas une fille non excisée dans leur case.

Complications
Mais pour Judith Yapmangusho, une femme de 52 ans et mère de six enfants, les conséquences de son excision ont été dramatiques. Après des complications génitales, elle est devenue handicapée et se déplace dans un fauteuil roulant.
"Je suis handicapée et incapable de faire quelque travail manuel que ce soit pour soutenir ma famille qui tente de survivre de l'agriculture de subsistance dans cette région montagneuse", dit Judith.
L'expérience de cette femme est un des nombreux récits de femmes qui souffrent dans le silence des conséquences de mutilations génitales féminines (MGF).
Sarah Kamuron, étudiante dans une école secondaire est pleine d'éloges concernant l'interdiction de mutilations génitales : "Les parents qui ont des croyances traditionnelles ont forcé leurs filles à se faire exciser, ce qui est une violation totale des droits des filles, donc cette loi contre les MGF arrive a point nommé", explique Kamuron.

Pour Beatrice Chelangat, directrice du programme de santé reproductive "Reproductive Educative and Community Health Programme" (REACH), le niveau élevé d'analphabétisme dans les communautés est un des facteurs majeurs contribuant à la propagation des pratiques comme la MGF : "Nous avons commencé un programme de sensibilisation dans les écoles et les communautés en zones rurales.
Et grâce à l'ambassade néerlandaise, nous allons ouvrir une station de radio "Frequency Modulation" dans le district de Bukwo pour parler de cette loi et des questions liées aux MGF".
Selon l'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS), les MGF sont reconnues comme une violation des droits des filles et des femmes.
L'opération peut causer des saignements, des problèmes de vessie et plus tard, des complications lors de l'accouchement. Mais il expose également les filles au virus du sida et dans le pire des cas peut causer un handicap ou même la mort.

http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/printable/201201271290.html

La triste réalité des femmes excisées

Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace Releases Alternative Electoral Law Draft

20 January 2012

The Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace, a movement of Libyan leaders
working with women and youth from around the country and diaspora, has
released a draft electoral law (click here for Arabic version)
that seeks to address some of the limitations of the draft election law
released in January by the National Transitional Council.

The draft law was drafted by a group of elite Libyan legal experts
including Dr. Kuni Abouda, Salah El-Merghani, Hadi Buhamra, and Ali Dou.

“We call on all Libyans, men and women, young and old, to join
protests on Sunday, 22 January In Tripoli and Benghazi to demand the NTC
not adopt the restrictive electoral law at this time which is crucial
to determining the fate of the new Libya” said Zahra’ Langhi of the
Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace.  “

The electoral law is significant because it will govern the process
for selection of members of the Public National Conference (PNC) in June
2012. The PNC, in turn, will be tasked with drawing up a new
constitution within 60 days. This constitution will then be put to a
national referendum and, if passed, parliamentary elections for a
permanent government will take place six months afterwards.

The LWPP’s analysis of the law concentrates on four main issues that
could have a negative impact on the rights of women and youth in the
country. This is because the proposed electoral law, as currently
written, lacks adequate provisions for women’s political participation,
unnecessarily excludes individuals from public life, risks incentivizing
political party formation along tribal lines, and contains inadequate
mechanisms to fight corruption in the electoral process.

Women’s Representation: The LWPP’s draft law
proposes a “zipper list system” whereby women and men alternate
one-by-one on party lists to ensure that female candidates are not
placed lower on lists, and thus shut out of power.

Tribal Affiliation: The LWPP’s draft electoral law
contains a provision indented to prevent the creation of political
parties based on tribal lines by prohibiting party lists from containing
relatives up to the degree of fourth cousin. This will ensure that
political parties working on Libya’s new constitution evolve largely
outside the influence of tribal politics and patriarchal structures.

Social Inclusion: The LWPP is also concerned by the
prohibition on holders of dual nationality from serving in the PNC – a
move which, ironically, would cast aside several currently serving NTC
members and many who had a major role in the February 17 Revolution. The
LWPP’s draft law reverses this provision, and we are gratified by
recent press reports indicating that dual nationality holders may now
participate in electoral politics

Electoral Integrity: The LWPP draft electoral law
prohibits campaigning in mosques, schools, universities, on the basis of
tribal and religious affiliation, and also forbids weapons to be
carried near polling locations. Further, it stipulates that voter fraud
or tampering with the results of elections will render the elections
null and void, triggering a redo of voting. Finally, unlike the current
draft, the LWPP draft includes a strong role for Libyan civil society
and International Organizations such as the UN to monitor and report on
elections.

To reject the NTC-proposed electoral law, the LWPP and its
partners are organizing a march the morning of Sunday January 22 in
Tripoli and Benghazi.

Contact: For more information contact Zahra’ Langhi at zahralanghi@lwpp.org or visit the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace on the web or on Facebook.

http://www.el-karama.org/content/libyan-women%E2%80%99s-platform-peace-releases-alternative-electoral-law-draft

Fighting Rape as a Tool of War

Sisters Week 2012: Fighting Rape as a Tool of War

“It has probably become more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in armed conflict.”

During the civil war in Libya in 2011, troops loyal to Dictator Mommar Ghaddaffi raped thousands of innocent women from teenagers to mothers. MWB is proud to be one of the few American Muslim agencies that stepped up to help these survivors, providing them counseling and financial assistance. But our student base has asked us to step up and do more. “Sisters Week” was designed to bring a voice to the victims of a crime that is often ignored in our community.

“Sisters Week” is an annual campaign being launched on campuses throughout the world this spring to focus on issues that affect, empower, and educate women. This year’s campaign we will be focusing on rape as a tool of war. But we need your support.  Anyone with a big heart and an outpouring of compassion can take part in this initiative. You don’t have to be a female to participate; everyone’s help is needed in raising awareness about this horrible crime.

This year, Sister’s Week will run from March 23rd -March 30th, 2012 at campuses across the United States and Australia. The purpose of this project is to simultaneously raise awareness and raise funds for suffering women across the globe.  Join us in this noble effort! Level of participation may vary according to the preferences of each chapter or individual. You can do something as small as setting up an information booth, hosting a bake sale, showing a documentary–or as big as putting on a banquet. MWB’s student staff will work with each person and chapter to design and coordinate events and provide campaign information (such as brochures). The intent is that all of our small acts of kindness will ripple into a major wave of benefit for our sisters insha’Allah. This is an issue we cannot afford to ignore. Renew your intentions, and get on board with Muslims Without Borders.

 

http://mwbrelief.org/?p=1356