Eritrea:Eritrea bans FGM
Written byNdesanjo Macha
Akin is happy to hear that FGM is banned in Eritrea: “Learning that Eritrea has banned the practice of Female Genital Mutilation or Circumcision (FGM or FGC) is definitely great news and to be celebrated.
It marks a beginning of what should be a wave of the civilising of customs, traditions and religious practices that cause undue physical harm without any particular health benefit apart from a modicum of social acceptance.”
Written byNdesanjo Macha
29 comments
To Nebiat:
Continued from previous post.
“The white racists of the American south used to argue that morality could not be legislated. The effort was to oppose giving African Americans equality in the eye of the law while at the same time finding political cover. You are doing the same by hiding behind “medicalizing” this harmful practice”. It is you and the ‘govt’ that are hiding behind obsolete grave and fatal consequences of the barbaric traditional method of FGM and seeking political cover under human rights violation that emanate there from to DENY the people the sound and safe method of Medical FGM, not Berhane. By contrast, Berhane is not denying any thing to any one. Berhane is not hiding behind medicalization but using medicalization to spare people from the barbarous method of traditional FGM by making FGM medically sound and safe and making Medical FGM free for all (not denying), optional, and places the decision in the rightful hands of the parents one way or the other. You read the history right but you did not understand it because you applied it wrong and backfired on you.
IF YOU DON’T TRUST ERITREAN PARENTS TO MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION FOR THEIR KIDS BUT BELIEVE THAT IT IS THE GOVT’S BUSINESS TO DICTATE WHAT THE RIGHT DECISION OF PARENTS SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT BE, THEN YOU GOT A MAJOR PROBLEM FOR WHICH YOU NEED TO SEEK HELP.
There is no reason why you/govt. should deny adults Medical FGM should they chose to have it done?
You keeping talking about Berhane hating the govt. No one in the entire world but you loves dictators, tyrants, dictatorship, tyranny, one-man, one-party rule by the barrel of the gun. That is all what Berhane is talking about. If that constitutes hate it is not because of Berhane but because the repressive and oppressive deeds and actions of such govts. That renders them automatically hateful. I have no problem hating such govt. either for the rest of the world is behind me in that. You love such govts. you are a loner.
No matter how you roll and turn it, Berhane has never said Medical FGM is must have for children or adults for that matter. All he is saying is, good or bad, it a matter for the parents to decide, period.
Keep throwing cheap shots at Berhane. You need that because it renders cover for lost argument and a tested tool to distract from the issue at hand.
Sister Nebiat,
I am sorry to tell you this; however you are wasting your time. This “gentleman” is doing his job he has more than enough funds to do this kind of campaign against our heroes. Don’t be surprised our accomplishment is his nightmare. His only purpose is to write garbage although he knows what the real issue is; just to character assassinate our leaders. Yet let’s get to the point, this individual is trying to tell you child abuse act is okay as long as parents are performing it. Whether he likes it or not we will continue to support the protectors of the children (good or evil governments, groups or individuals) and educate the parents of these children the right thing. In other words no need or time for smart talk. This inhumane act is indeed every reasonable human being’s issue; because it is proven to be wrong globally not only in Eritrea. There is no politics here. There is no such a thing as claim of more responsibility for the care and wellbeing of children in order to get political cover to dictate to parents what their parental private decision should or should not be and to turn young and innocent Eritrean girls into political pawns. The want to be manipulator who enjoys phrases such as “Barrel of the gun” needs to leave the children to their international advocates and try his undercover agenda next time.
Hello DY:
I agree with you that engaging this guy is a hopeless endevor. But my effort is not to try to pursade him. It’s simply to expose his sexist and shallow thinking.
As you alluded to it yourself, here’s this guy writing for all to read that “Female sexuality is a private female affair” and then strangely adding in the same sentence that “the govt has no business dictating to females” when it is him and his ilk who want to subject young girls to a brutal practice. I know inside the workings of his bizarre mind the cutting and traumatizing of young girls’ genitals should be left to “adults” like him. And this “doctor” thinks that poor girls should just shut up and submit to the knives and razors that are used to mutilate their private parts. Talk about quackery.
On further reflection, you’re right. It’s probably wise to just ignore this character all together. The forum is all your Dr. Filli.
“Female sexuality is a private female affair” and then strangely adding in the same sentence that “the govt has no business dictating to females” You say. That is a statement of fact, there is no contradiction in there, seek help. “when it is him and his ilk who want to subject young girls to a brutal practice”, That is yet one of your absolute lies. Berhane never advocated subjecting any one to any thing or dictating at all”. In the second from last paragraph of entry # 22, I reiterated for the record, that “Berhane has NEVER SAID Medical FGM is must have for children or adults for that matter. All he is saying is, good or bad, it a matter for the parents to decide, period.”
Surgery including abortion, C-section, and more is brutal and to the untrained eye appears more brutal. Medical FGM is no more brutal than any other equivalent surgery. The brutality of FGM pertains only to the traditional method of performing FGM but not to Medical FGM.
“I know inside the workings of his bizarre mind the cutting and traumatizing of young girls’ genitals should be left to “adults” like him.” AND I KNOW YOU ARE ONLY GUESSING, no matter how you try to make it sound harmful, all surgery involves cutting and some degree of trauma, Medical FGM is no excepton. No one must have Medical FGM. But should it be performed, Medical FMG does not have any more traumatizing effect than any equivalent surgery.
All Surgery is performed by adults. Medical FGM is a surgical procedure that cannot be performed by kids but adults. No one said Medical FMG should be left to “adults”. That is a lie. Berhane never used the term “adult” at all. All what Berhane said was that Medical FGM must be performed by trained medical personnel. And if by definition ‘personnel’ are adults, it is what it is because there are no under-aged such personnel. Also, what Berhane said was that the decision about Med FGM has to be left to PARENTS. If by definition parents are adults, it is what it is.
Finally, one major aspect around FGC is Hygiene. Berhane never raised it at all, but it is worth keeping that in mind for it is a nagging embarrassment that females deal with every day, 24X7.
You can ignore and label the author all you want all day 24×7 the author is not the issue. I called for it right from the outset. The subject matter of the debate was FGM not the author. It was a battle of ideas over FGM- the pros and cons. In such a debate you stay in it and make your case or surrender for loss of argument. Ignoring the author is a lame excuse sore loser like you resort to in order to cover loss of argument. Ignoring the author won’t make the issue disappear or erase your failed arguments. The author is the only thing you can ignore, you can’t ignore the subject matter, it will flash on your face for ever.
You want to “expose the shallow thinking” of the author. Power to you, that is what the entire debate is all about. But the only way to do that is not by ignoring the author but by refuting his arguments point by point. They are all out there. For example, the author says “There is no human rights violation in Medical FGM”. Beat that. Don’t do this for the author but make your case to the forum and the many non-participating others.
“Trained medical doctors” NEVER perform mutilation of genitalia, male or female. Read ANY of the major medical associations’ statements on this practice for some insight into the issue. Please present the position of ANY single medical association which throws their support behind the idea of cutting off women’s genitalia. By this I mean a true position statement, a summary of findings, that sort of thing, by the whole organization.
The female genitalia have the equivalent number of nerve endings as the male penis. This is a well known biological fact. Cutting off the clitoris and labia feels the exact same as cutting off a boy/man’s penis. Exact same. Look it up in an anatomy book. Even if the mutilation were to be done under anesthesia the resultant pain lasts years, if not a lifetime. This is the reason mutilation is called mutilation and not “surgery.” Surgery exists to help, to restore, to prevent death or cure disease. The initial premise of the Hippocratic oath is “first, do no harm.” This is the argument used by the medical profession as a WHOLE in opposition to this horrific practice, over and over again. Hence there is NO SUCH THING AS “MEDICALIZED” MUTILATION!!! Get your data together.
Hats off for L. Holloway,
Thank you very much for the precise, practical and right to the point explanation. How would one feel if his penis or part was cut off? We shall support the Eritrean government on enforcing this ban and other similar issues.
Hi Everyone, it is positive that our gov. recognizing the inhuman practice of FCG. I think we should laud our leaders for that. But most important is how the law is enforced, My take is that people who engage in such a practice (parents as well as country doctors) should be meet with harsh punishment so that this practice doesn’t go underground and continue to scar our girls, sisters etc.. for life.
G.O.E hat’s off.
Hi Akin, perhaps this could be a gud news to some but for us (Tigre-Tripe) we never had an FGM …. thanks to Islam.