Female Genital Mutilation Survivors in Media

This CSW parallel event- Female Genital Mutilation Survivors in Media- Pictures that Empower” was sponsored by the Female Integrity/ RISK Uppsala and co-sponsored by Swedish Women’s Lobby. The session began with the introduction of Farma who is a Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) survivor originally from Ethiopia. She started campaigning against FGM in 1995 and has dedicated her life to ensuring that this human rights violation is eradicated in many societies. FGM is one of the few violations done against women by women. This introduction was followed by the presentation of Dr. Bita Eshraghi who is an Obstetrician-Gynecologist in Stockholm, Sweden where she works with Amel, an outpatient clinic that provides medical and surgical treatment as well as psychological support for survivors of FGM.

During her presentation, Dr Eshraghi identified the countries where this practice was prevalent and the major countries affected are in Africa, some parts of Asia and the Middle East. Presently, there are 26 African countries who have banned FGM and this proves to be a win in the battle against FGM. Across the world, more than 200 million women have undergone FGM and 3 million girls are at risk, which translates to 1 girl every 11 seconds. During her presentation, she outlined the types of FGM, the age range when girls are subjected to this which is 0-12 years and the people who perform the act of circumcision. This led to a bigger issue of the medicalization of FGM in Egypt where health care professionals carry out this practice. The reasons for FGM vary among cultures and contexts but the common ones are cultural and social acceptance, marital fidelity, control of women’s sexuality, incorrect interpretation of religious texts and myths surrounding FGM that it is necessary to make a woman clean, modest, feminine and beautiful. Dr. Eshraghi ended her presentation by outlining the medical issues caused by FGM and urged the audience not to think of women and girls who have gone through FGM as victims but as survivors.

In conclusion of the session, there was a photojournalist who told her story of how she got survivors of FGM to allow her tell their stories through pictures in a way that empowered them. During her presentation, she went through several slides of strong women who had survived this violation and are living normal healthy lives and those who have taken it upon themselves to ensure that no other girl-child goes through this violation. She ended the session by introducing the audience to a great NGO- The Whole Flower whose work focuses on the inclusion of girls and fighting the practice of FGM in their community.

Measuring Gender-Based Violence among Rural Women

This CSW parallel event- Beyond the Hashtags: Measuring Gender-Based Violence among Rural Women was sponsored and organized by Women for Women International (WfWI), South African Medical Research Council and George Washington University’s Global Women Institute. This discussion surrounded the ethical and methodological ways that field researchers collect data on gender-based violence in non-conflict and conflict/ humanitarian settings. The panelists spoke about the challenges that are faced in the field when collecting data and how these challenges have been addressed over the years to make data collection smoother both for the field researchers and the study participants.

The first challenge addressed was the safety and well-being of the field researchers and the participants. South African Medical Research Council along with the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a set of ethical guidelines to guide the training of the field researchers to ensure that both researchers and participants are protected. Research found that there is a higher disclosure rate when the researchers are more trained. The organization also made provision for a counselor to accompany each field team for the emotional and psychological needs of the members of the field team and the research participants who are often women and children who have gone through gender-based violence in both conflict and non-conflict settings.

Another challenge that has been addressed is the chaos that mars the research that has been done on gender/race–based violence in conflict settings as this is a relatively recent area of research. This challenge was addressed by the George Washington University’s Global Women Institute who brought together researchers in the field of conflict/ humanitarian settings and gender-based violence to develop a unified methodological and conceptual understanding and approach to how field work ought to be carried out in conflict/ post-conflict settings.

The Women for Women International (WfWI) which is an organization that works to empower marginalized women in conflict-affected areas takes a different approach by not focusing on the numbers or data of violence-affected women but rather focuses on how to build these women up to ensure that they are economically independent which reduces the risk factors of gender-based violence. They do this by organizing a 12-month curriculum with cohorts of 25 women where they teach them about their rights, health and value. These women are paid about $10 a month and bank accounts are opened for them as the first step to financial freedom. During and after the program, these women have a strong peer support base. It is obvious that these organizations are impacting and improving the lives of rural women.

For more information, visit: Women for Women International- https://www.womenforwomen.org/

George Washington University’s Global Women Institute- https://globalwomensinstitute.gwu.edu/

South African Medical Research Council- http://www.mrc.ac.za/