Conference convenes to combat FGM in Yemen

Participants presented evidence that incidence of FGM is over 95 percent in some areas.

A 15-year old girl died on her wedding day, Ramziah al-Eryani, Chairwoman of the Yemen Women’s Union, told the crowd at a conference to discuss violence against girls held at the Taj Sheba hotel on May 30.  The girl, from Hodeidah where the people still practice female genital mutilation (euphemistically known as female circumcision), died on her wedding day because the groom returned her to her family after discovering that the bride hadn’t undergone the operation. 

That same day her mother took her to a midwife does this operation. When the to have the operation performed. When the girl started crying, they put a piece of cloth over her mouth to muffle the noise. After the operation, the girl lost consciousness and never recovered. Another girl in the same province was supposed to undergo the same operation on her wedding day, but this girl did not submit; she ran into the sea and was drowned. These are just two of the stories that the Yemeni Women’s Union managed to collect during their study of the areas in Yemen where female genital mutilation is practiced. 

“Despite the efforts of the Yemeni government, represented in the law declaring this practice illegal, it is still practiced—secretly in homes—especially in coastal areas,” al-Eryani said. “Statistics indicate that 97 percent of females in Hodeidah get this operation done; 96 percent in Hadhramawt; 98 percent in al-Mahrah, 82 percent in Aden and 28 percent in Taiz. This operation is usually done in the first seven days after birth or within the first three months of life,” al-Eryani said.

She said that among women who have had the operation, 68 percent had it done by a midwife; 11 percent had it performed by an older female relative; and only six percent had the operation performed by a doctor or nurse.  She studies that pointed out the 28 African countries where the phenomenon of FGM is most widespread. Approximately 140 million young girls of all social and economic classes are subjected to FGM every year. The conference focused on the five countries of Somalia, Egypt, Oman, Djibouti,and Yemen, and was attended by Minister of Human Rights Dr. Huda Alban, the Minister for Women and Development in the Republic of Somalia, Amina Mursal, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health Dr. Araw al-Rabia, and Abdu al-Karim, Deputy Representative of the United Nations Population Fund in Yemen. 

Dr. Huda Alban, the Minister of Human Rights, emphasized that the Yemeni government is committed to addressing issues of violence against women, and encouraged non-governmental organizations, the private sector and all partners in Yemen to establish foundations to seriously address social issues, especially those facing children in all the aspects of life, including female genital mutilation. The government has an active partnership with the Yemen Women’s Union, who together have been implementing many activities in ten governorates to combat female genital mutilation over the past two years.

Activities include the training of ten instructors, as well as training 600 people from the local communities, presenting awareness campaigns in 100 schools, and awareness-raising sessions that focused on 92,000 people from the local communities, and distributed 100 thousand informative brochures. Dr. Amina Mursal, the Minister for Women and Development in the Republic of Somalia, said that 98 percent of Somali girls undergo FGM and thousands suffer complications from its effects.

There is currently a program to get rid of this custom, which she say is no longer a local problem, rather, it is a global problem. The 140 million women who are obliged to undergo this operation represent tragic cases, she said. She encouraged international organizations to do their best to rally official and non-governmental support to help put an end to this barbarous and unnecessary practice.  

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