UNICEF: African women condemn female genital mutilation

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, 14 September 2009 In a room filled with visiting dignitaries and members of the Ethiopian National Assembly, Tadeletch Shankos voice was whisper-quiet as she talked about the difficult subject of female genital mutilation/cutting, or FGM/C.

Ms. Shanko had performed FGM/C on girls for the last 15 years and underwent the procedure herself as a girl, with devastating consequences.

Ms. Shanko is no longer a supporter of FGM/C, as a result of a series of community dialogues on the physical and psychological harm caused by the practice.

She shared her story with the members of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Womens Caucus, which convened in Addis Ababa late last month to assess the state of FGM/C across Africa and to learn from the strategies that Ethiopia and other countries have put in place to eliminate it.

UNICEF Ethiopia has been collaborating with partners on a number of advocacy efforts toward abandonment of FGM/C, including training community-dialogue facilitators and disseminating educational materials in various media. The parliamentary mission is the most recent effort in this direction.

To read the full story, visit http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ethiopia_51122.html

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• Ethiopia
• Tadeletch
• Shanko
• female
• genital
• mutilation
• FGM
• Addis
• Ababa

[moonwitch1981]

I am a western women of 29, and didn't need to go through this horrific thing to be "well behavend" at 29 i am a strong believe of keeping ones self untill after marriage..So these poor girls do not need to suffer like this.

It is abuse plain and simple.

[janaherde]

I love my husband, I don't need that mutilation to be faithfull. It's not about that!!! maybe if they would let theyr girls marry for love, the problem would not be there... There is no exuse!! They are obedient... of course, if you can't feel anything, and sex is even painfull. But it's not the way.

[Sociopathics]

@cleansexy It reduces risk of infection because circumcised girls are already betrothed to be married, therefor their partners are most likely clean men. The mutilation itself, however, leads to other infections due to primitive tools and open wounds left over. Moron.

[MrReptile69]

scary!!!!!!!!!!

[molinmusic]

LIES CANNOT LIVE, STAY STRONG, the profile thumbnail is deleted on almost anything regarding women's choice on YouTube...how suspicious today!

[phosphoras]

GOD

[cleansexy]

Female Circumcision greatly reduces risk of HIV infection

"Researchers bent on proving that female circumcision heightens HIV risk in women could not explain away numbers that argued the opposite."

3rd IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, July 24-27-05, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

[iamgoddard]

Thank you for this video! Wonderful to see Meleichi's rise of conscience!

But the statement that Meleichi lives "in a country where it is largely believed that a girl that is not circumcised ... will be disobedient to her husband" seems to imply it's a false belief. But it's true and central to the brutality of FMG. With an intact clitorous women feel sexual pleasure and may seek extramarital affairs. So FMG enforces marital obedience by destroying a woman's sexuality and thus sexual freedom.