UNICEF Report: Millions of girls still face FGM risk -- no mention of boys

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2013-07-24 01:04

Article here. Of course, FGM must be stopped. However, so must MGM. This is a great opportunity to let UNICEF know you support the end of genital mutilation of children-- children of BOTH sexes. Contact UNICEF here (Subject: Child rights), and their Facebook page is here, where they accept posts. Excerpt:

'(CNN) - The largest report yet into the extent of female genital mutilation, or cutting, has shed new light onto a practice that affects tens of millions of women and girls worldwide, U.N children's agency UNICEF said.

There is some positive news in the new UNICEF report, with data on trends revealing that the practice is becoming less common in more than half of the 29 countries where it is concentrated.

But some 30 million girls remain at risk of being cut in the next decade unless efforts to eliminate the practice make more headway.

More than 125 million girls and women alive today have undergone some form of female genital mutilation in 29 countries across Africa and the Middle East, according to the report, "Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting: A statistical overview and exploration of the dynamics of change."'

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Feel free to use it, though original notes have more impact. Note there is a message size limit. My note pretty much maxes it out. :) Here it is:

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It's great you are raising the alarm over FGM. But, the double-standard around FGM and male circumcision (MGM) is glaring. Claims that MGM slows HIV/other STD spread are false. Pushing MGM into sub-Saharan Africa will not slow the spread of HIV there. Circumcised men, thinking they are unlikely to catch HIV after circumcision, are further disincented to do the one thing they ought to be doing to avoid getting or spreading HIV, short of abstinence: use condoms. Educating people and making condoms available will slow the spread of HIV, not circumcision.

Even if circumcising males did slow STD spread, cutting done to anyone without their consent in adulthood is immoral and unethical; and, no claim of religious right to do so trumps the human rights of anyone, child or adult. Bodily integrity is an inalienable human right-- not just a human female's right. Not taking up the cause of ending *all* involuntary genital mutilations reduces the moral-ethical foundations of your cause.

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Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2013-07-24 04:24