Fgm Human Rights Voilation free essay sample

Practices are mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15, and occasionally on adult women. In Africa, about three million girls are at risk for FGM annually. An estimated 140 million girls and women worldwide are living with the consequences of FGM. In Africa, about 92 million girls age 10 years and above are estimated to have undergone FGM. The practice is most common in the western, eastern, and north-eastern regions of Africa, in some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and among migrants from these areas. FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between the sexes, and constitutes an intense form of discrimination against women. It is nearly always carried out on minors and is a violation of the rights of children. The practice also violates a persons rights to health, security and physical integrity, the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the right to life when the procedure results in death. The causes of female genital mutilation include a mix of cultural, religious and social factors within families and communities. Where FGM is a social convention, the social pressure to conform to what others do and have been doing is a strong motivation to perpetuate the practice. FGM is often considered a necessary part of raising a girl properly, and a way to prepare her for adulthood and marriage. FGM is often motivated by beliefs about what is considered proper sexual behaviour, linking procedures to premarital virginity and marital fidelity. FGM is in many communities believed to reduce a womans libido and therefore believed to help her resist illicit sexual acts. When a vaginal opening is covered or narrowed (type 3 above), the fear of the pain of opening it, and the fear that this will be found out, is expected to further discourage illicit sexual intercourse among women with this type of FGM. FGM is associated with cultural ideals of femininity and modesty, which include the notion that girls are â€Å"clean† and beautiful after removal of body parts that are considered male or unclean. Though no religious scripts prescribe the practice, practitioners often believe the practice has religious support. Religious leaders take varying positions with regard to FGM: some promote it, some consider it irrelevant to religion, and others contribute to its elimination. Local structures of power and authority, such as community leaders, religious leaders, circumcisers, and even some medical personnel can contribute to upholding the practice. In most societies, FGM is considered a cultural tradition, which is often used as an argument for its continuation. In some societies, recent adoption of the practice is linked to copying the traditions of neighbouring groups. Sometimes it has started as part of a wider religious or traditional revival movement. In some societies, FGM is practised by new groups when they move into areas where the local population practice FGM. In 1997, WHO issued a joint statement with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) against the practice of FGM. A new statement, with wider United Nations support, was then issued in February 2008 to support increased advocacy for the abandonment of FGM. The 2008 statement documents evidence collected over the past decade about the practice. It highlights the increased recognition of the human rights and legal dimensions of the problem and provides data on the frequency and scope of FGM. It also summarizes research about why FGM continues, how to stop it, and its damaging effects on the health of women, girls and newborn babies. In 2010 WHO published a Global strategy to stop health care providers from performing female genital mutilation in collaboration with other key UN agencies and international organizations. Since 1997, great efforts have been made to counteract FGM, through research, work within communities, and changes in public policy. Progress at both international and local levels includes:wider international involvement to stop FGM;the development of international monitoring bodies and resolutions that condemn the practice;revised legal frameworks and growing political support to end FGM (this includes a law against FGM in 22 African countries, and in several states in two other countries, as well as 12 industrialized countries with migrant populations from FGM practicing countries);in most countries, the prevalence of FGM has decreased, and an increasing number of women and men in practising communities support ending its practice. Research shows that, if practising communities themselves decide to abandon FGM, the practice can be eliminated very rapidly. In 2008, the World Health Assembly passed a resolution (WHA61. 16) on the elimination of FGM, emphasizing the need for concerted action in all sectors health, education, finance, justice and womens affairs. WHO efforts to eliminate female genital mutilation focus on:advocacy: developing publications and advocacy tools for international, regional and local efforts to end FGM within a generation; research: generating knowledge about the causes and consequences of the practice, how to eliminate it, and how to care for those who have experienced FGM; guidance for health systems: developing training materials and guidelines for health professionals to help them treat and counsel women who have undergone procedures. WHO is particularly concerned about the increasing trend for medically trained personnel to perform FGM. WHO strongly urges health professionals not to perform such procedures.