Fighting the Culture of Discrimination


Recently,  the  parliament  of  Togo  passed  a law prohibiting female genital  mutilation  with  transgressors   facing jail sentences from 2 months  to 10 years and fines between US$182 to US$1,820, according to news reports.

Malawi,  having  signed the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms   of  Discrimination  Against Women (CEDAW) 12 years ago, however remains one of the countries where gender discrepancies still exist, a recent Inter Press Service article revealed. Likewise the situation in some countries remains challenging.

With  its  headquarters  in  the ECA, the Inter-Africa Committee, a non-governmental  organisation  comprising  members  from  26   African countries,  works  towards  the  eradication  of   harmful  traditional practices  affecting  the  health of women.  In 1986, the IAC signed a protocol  agreement  on  cooperation   and assistance with the ECA. The office was inaugurated in 1990.

Elisabeth  Alabi,  head of the centre in Addis Ababa, had her first exposure   to  Female  Genital  Mutilation  (FGM) at a Dakar meeting in 1984,  attended by women from twenty African countries.  She saw there a   girl  go  through  genital mutilation at the hands of a traditional birth  attendant.   Ms.  Alabi remembers that everyone in the hall was crying.

Other harmful practices:  FGM  was  not  the   only  topic  of discussion at that forum. Other harmful  traditional   practices  were  also  brought up, such as early marriage,   child  abuse,  tribal  marks,  and  traditional   taboos for pregnant  women,  and  treatment of widows. When the participants left the  conference,  she  noted, they all went back with the intention of
alerting  their  governments  to what they had seen and heard, and the decision  taken  to  fight for the eradication of all these practices. That led to the birth of the IAC.

'Especially  in  Nigeria,  where I come from,' Ms. Alabi explains,' widowhood rites relegate women to the status of second class citizens. When  a   man  dies she is subjected to so many rituals to prove she is not   responsible  for  the death of her husband. Whereas, if the woman dies, the man is not subjected to those rituals. On the other hand, in some  areas, he is even allowed to sleep in the room with a woman, for fear that the ghost of the dead woman will haunt him.'

The  IAC does not just concentrate on harmful traditions, but tries to promote good cultures, such as breast-feeding, a practice which now appears to be slowly disappearing.

Conferences have revealed that these practices, when discussed, set off    emotions.   There   is   need   for    extensive  research,  mass sensitization,   training,    fundraising,   and   networking   towards influencing  communities  in  the  direction  of   eradication of these harmful traditions.

As  one of the members of the IAC, Ms. Genet Mitiku of The National Committee    in  Ethiopia,  where  the percentage for FGM is as high as 85%,   told ECANEWS that since the inception of IAC, offices have been set up in 10 regions, and numerous training projects have been started to target groups as part of the sensitisation programme.

English   Department  head  of  Ethiopian  Television,   Ms.  Fitsum Alemayehu,  told  ECANEWS,  that  ETV   regularly highlights the battle waged  against  harmful  traditional   practices  through programmes in local languages.

The naming of UNFPA's Special Ambassador Waris Dirie (of Somalia), who focuses on the elimination of genital mutilation, as 'woman of the year' by Glamour magazine this month, is sure to boost the public's awareness of the topic.