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FACTS OF THE CASE:

The long-term medical hazards of female genital mutilation (FGM), also referred to as female circumcision, have been well documented by medical and human rights groups. They range from short-term complications to life-threatening conditions, including severe pain, shock, hemorrhage, and infections. Despite clear evidence of its harmful effects, the practice continues, affecting more than 100 million women and girls in at least twenty-six African countries.

In 1997, proponents of the elimination of female genital mutilation were able to claim at least three victories:

1) Egypt's highest court upheld the government's ban on FGM;

2) the Gambian government reversed its directive banning the use of state-owned media to oppose the practice; and

3) Kenyan community groups were successful in gaining acceptance for an alternative ritual, 'Ntanira na Mugambo' (Circumcision Through Words).

Egypt

On 28 December 1997, the Egyptian Supreme Court upheld the government's ban on female genital mutilation. The ban, which was instituted by the Ministry of Health in July 1996 in response to calls from women's and human rights groups, was reversed by a lower court case in which Islamic conservatives, claiming that FGM is an Islamic practice, declared it to be outside the courts' jurisdiction. Violators of the ban face three years in prison; hospitals which perform the procedure risk closure.

In its decision, the Court pronounced that "circumcision of girls is not an individual right under Shari'a," and added that, "there is nothing in the Koran that authorizes it."

The ruling is significant not only because it cannot be appealed but also because Egypt is considered to be a center of Islamic scholarship and jurisprudence. Women's rights groups predict that this decision will have wide-ranging positive implications.

The Gambia

The government of the Gambia has declared that issues of reproductive health, including female genital mutilation, may now be discussed on Gambia Telecommunications (GAMTEL), a state-owned company that controls radio and television stations. In a 17 May 1997 directive, the government banned the use of state-owned media to oppose female genital mutilation, or to portray its medical hazards. The reversal allows NGOs opposed to the practice to make use of the government-owned media.

Kenya

Community groups in Kenya have been successful in gaining acceptance for 'Ntanira na Mugambo' (Circumcision Through Words) as an alternative to FGM. In 1996, rural families, working with national and international organizations, began using 'Ntanira na Mugambo' to mark a young girl's passage to womanhood.

In June 1996, when it began, thirty families took part in the celebration. The number grew to fifty in December of that year, and seventy in August 1997. In December 1997, thirteen villages participated in the new ritual.

The program's success is credited to years of research undertaken by Maendeleo ya Wanawake (MYWO), the Kenyan national women's group, and the US-based Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), which culminated in the creation of a ceremony to make the transition to womanhood that is a culturally accepted substitute for FGM. The program also includes a public awareness campaign about the harmful effects of FGM.

Some argue that programs like Circumcision Through Words may ultimately have more impact than the outright banning of the practice, which in the past has led to a backlash resulting in younger and increased numbers of FGM victims.

No action is required.

(Sources of information on this case include: Equality Now Alert, July 1997; the World Medical Association; Female Genital Mutilation: A Call for Global Action, by Nahid Touia; El Nadim Center for the Management and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence; the New England Journal of Medicine, v. 331, 15 September 1994, no. 11; International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics 46 (1994), 127-135; Amnesty International; The New York Times, 29 December 1997; The Washington Post, 29 December 1997; Malik Stan Reaves, Alternative Rite to Female Circumcision Spreading in Kenya, Africa News Service, November 1997.)

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