AFRO-NETS> GENITAL MUTILATION: Aid Group Caught in Controversy

[Dieter Neuvians MD <neuvians@harare.iafrica.com>]

GENITAL MUTILATION: Aid Group Caught in Controversy
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Source: http://www.unfoundation.org/unwire/unwire.cfm#7


The international medical aid agency Medecins Sans Frontiers 
said its workers have provided surgical equipment for female 
circumcision, but claimed it does not support the procedure. 
MSF said providing clean instruments is considered a "first aid 
response", since female genital mutilation can result in infec-
tions and cause "horrific complications" in childbirth and in-
tercourse. 

"It takes place and we have to be pragmatic," a spokesperson 
said. "In some cases our volunteers would prefer to see it hap-
pen in sanitary conditions with clean and sharp implements, 
rather than a traditional, rusty knife. If they decide it is 
better to offer clean instruments, we support them. However, 
this an individual's decision, and this does not reflect MSF 
policy." 

But a spokesperson for the World Health Organization criticized 
MSF's actions. WHO's Gregory Hartl: "The practice is a major 
human rights violation, and we refuse to see the medicalization 
of something that is wholly unnecessary. We should not tolerate 
this practice even under sterile conditions. It is utterly bar-
baric."

Nahid Toubia, president of a group that campaigns for the 
health and rights of African women: "I understand the immediate 
dilemma of field workers ... but people in the communities 
might think Westerners are endorsing their tradition, when we 
should be campaigning against it." 

Each year millions of girls worldwide undergo circumcision 
(Nicole Veash, London Observer, 22 Aug). 

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Editorial Urges End To Practice

An editorial in the Kampala New Vision calls the continued 
practice of female circumcision "a dreadful blot on the image 
of Uganda abroad." The newspaper praises local officials in one 
district who have launched a campaign to end the practice (21 
Aug). 

Last week 29-year-old Adelaide Abankwah was granted political 
asylum by US immigration authorities because she feared genital 
mutilation if she returned to Ghana (UN Wire, 18 Aug).

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