Al-Ahram Weekly looks into the latest efforts to help the less fortunate youngsters Drastic measures The tragic death of Bodour is behind the law banning female genital mutilation, Amira El-Naqeeb looks into its applicability She was standing in front of the mirror combing her daughter Heba's honey blonde hair. "I just don't want her to feel the pain," Naglaa said. Heba, 11, looked back over her shoulder and smiled. She did not understand what her mother was talking about. The pain and trauma of female genital mutilation (FGM) is what Naglaa was trying to spare her daughter. Naglaa, who dropped out of school at the age of 14, is the wife of a doorman and works part-time as a maid to help her family. She grew up in Giza, which is not considered a rural area; however, the tradition of FGM is deeply entrenched in her culture. Yet the death of 12-year-old Bodour Shaker, who lost her life during an FGM operation in Minya two weeks ago has shocked many across the nation. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, in the wake of this tragic incident, urged the drafting of a law that bans FGM totally during the Regional Conference of the Middle East and North Africa on Violence Against Children, held last week. A week ago, the Ministry of Health issued ministerial decision 271 that bans FGM in all clinics, public and private hospitals, overruling the 1996 ministerial decision that allowed FGM in hospitals for cases approved by doctors. Shaker is one of an estimated three million girls a year that are subject to FGM in the Arab world. After hearing about Shaker's death, Naglaa now fears for the life of her daughter if subjected to FGM, although decades ago, she had the operation at the same age of Shaker. "When I was growing up, everybody did it, my mom took me when I was 11. With anesthetics, I didn't feel anything," Naglaa said. She was lucky enough to survive the emotional and physical pain related to FGM, but when Naglaa felt that she wants to defy her society's code for her daughter's sake, she was faced by anger and opposition from her family, "especially my brother. He said, 'are you going to leave your daughter like this? She might become loose and you won't be able to control her sexual urges.'" To add insult to injury, in her neighbourhood not only young girls are subject to FGM, but also grown up girls who haven't undergone this process in their childhood are taken by their parents a few days before their wedding to undergo the operation, so their husbands won't nag them about it. "But I will not do it to my daughter. I don't care what society tells me, especially after this girl died," Naglaa protested. FGM, which is practised in Egypt to reduce women's sexual desires and to control their sexuality, is a social and cultural problem, as put by Azza Suleiman, head of the Centre for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance (CEWLA), that needs more than a law to stop or curb it. "There should be a strategic plan on how to address the public. Issuing new laws without coordinating with the media to promote them isn't going to solve the problem," said Suleiman. It is often asked whether the practice is based on religion or culture. According to a recent study published on the World Health Organisation (WHO) website, 31 per cent of people supporting FGM attributed the practice to religion. "It's a culture practice mistaken for religion," said Heba Qotb, sexologist and marriage counsellor. Finally, last week Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa issued a fatwa banning FGM completely. However, the problem is much deeper since FGM is practiced in an environment of silence and secrecy, an aspect that hamper the awareness efforts. "If civil society organisations and the government do not work hand in hand, then the effort to stop the practice is hopeless. If someone isn't willing to report on his neighbour who is going to mutilate his/her daughter, or a doctor to report on his colleague if he sees him operating, then it is impossible to break the existing customs," according to Suleiman. However those who have participated in awareness campaigns know that talking people out of such habits remains a difficult job. "When I was in college I used to go to a village called Kombra, near Kirdasa. When I tried to talk them out of this tradition, they looked at me as if I was a malicious creature who came to incite their women to sin," said Qotb. The practice is widespread in rural areas though Qotb was sceptical about the percentages. "I haven't heard of any educated person putting their daughters through this experience," she said. Sherine El-Hofi, an AUC graduate, and a mother of three, one of which is an 11-year-old girl, testified that this subject is never brought up in her circle of friends, "simply because no one would think of it." Yet the fact remains that many of the less educated will stick to what they have grown up with. To contribute to turning the tide of social norms against FGM, Qotb believes that there should be more awareness when it comes to sexual information available for men and women. "Ninety per cent of women's sexuality lies within the frame of feelings and passion. On the contrary, 90 per cent of men's sexuality is functional. These facts need to be taught so they won't misunderstand the reasons behind sexual desires," said Qotb. An anti-FGM play was organised recently by CEWLA, and is touring different parts of Egypt, with the aim of breaking the culture of silence, and promoting positive and lasting attitudes that will lead eventually to the abandonment of FGM. Suleiman said that this was the best case scenario, but we have to be realistic. "We cannot change convictions in an hour, we are only trying to shake them, and afterwards they have to look for the truth themselves."
