Egypt perma-bans female circumcision

[Dirt]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070628/wl_africa_afp/egyptwomencircumcision

Bravo. I approve.

[Hawkeye Fierce]

An excellent step. Enforcement's gonna be a real issue.

[Euri]

Very good. This is a horrific practice.

[Lunch of Kong]

Hold on a second. Is this going to increase the number of deaths of young girls now that the practice is illegal and has to be conducted in alleyway clinics?

Or was this practice always conducted in alleyway clinics to begin with?

[WarrenM]

Always nice to see a people moving foward and catching up with common sense.

[Angie Gallant]

It wasn't performed in alleyway clinics, but it was often performed by non-doctors in less than sterile conditions as part of a ceremony. Only the rich would get doctors to do it.

[Jason McMaster]

Real shame.

[Dirt]

I have a co-worker who is Egyptian. I asked her if she'd been circumcised. She told me not to ask...

[Gunmetal]

Are you HR's worst nightmare, or what?

[Kareem]

It wasn't performed in alleyway clinics, but it was often performed by non-doctors in less than sterile conditions as part of a ceremony. Only the rich would get doctors to do it.

It was a pretty cheap procedure, I don't know of people doing it themselves but I think most of them went to doctors. I believe most doctors nowadays don't do it anymore to begin with.

It's nice that there's a blanket rule that bans it now obviously, but it's probably another thing to get the people talking about that isn't related to abusive government measures and constitutional amendments.

[Rimbo]

Are you HR's worst nightmare, or what?

LMAO!

[Glenn]

I have a co-worker who is Egyptian. I asked her if she'd been circumcised. She told me not to ask...http://tvcocktail.ivillage.com/entertainment/E_SteveCarell_304.jpg

[Dirt]

Let it be known that I don't do anything on this board I wouldn't do in real life.

[Midnight Son]

I have a co-worker who is Egyptian. I asked her if she'd been circumcised. She told me not to ask...

Dwight Schrute! I knew it was you!

[Chowhound]

Why would they want to remove the clitoris? Some crazy female subjugation thing?

[Dirt]

Dwight Schrute! I knew it was you!
I'm more of a cross between David Brent and Tim Canterbury.

[Midnight Son]

Why would they want to remove the clitoris? Some crazy female subjugation thing?

It might give them pleasure. Old time fucked up kooky religions frown on that......

[Tim Partlett]

It's not a religious thing. It's an ancient practice that's been carried out in Egypt since the pharaohs. It predates both Islam and Christianity, and Jews have never practiced it.

[Kareem]

It's not a religious thing. It's an ancient practice that's been carried out in Egypt since the pharaohs. It predates both Islam and Christianity, and Jews have never practiced it.

Yes, it's an old cultural thing, practised among Arab tribes way before Islam.

[Midnight Son]

It's not a religious thing. It's an ancient practice that's been carried out in Egypt since the pharaohs. It predates both Islam and Christianity, and Jews have never practiced it.

Well, that makes it okay then!

[Rimbo]

Yes! But it's still about preventing women from enjoying sex.

[Kareem]

Well, that makes it okay then!

No one said it was okay, it was a response to your (wrong) assertion that it's stemming from some kind of religious decree.

[Unicorn McGriddle]

They've tried banning it before. I think they're going to have a hard time making it stick until the areas where it's practiced have enjoyed higher living standards, better education, and broader exposure to the rest of the world. For a couple of generations. Social change is difficult in deeply religious and impoverished communities.

Edit: Tim: It's true that the practice predates Islam, but it's now seen as religious by the practitioners and strategies to wipe it out are going to have to take that into account.

[Mordrak]

Yes! But it's still about preventing women from enjoying sex.

Maybe one of the ancient pharaohs had a really small dick and was jealous. That fucking bastard.


Social change is difficult in deeply religious and impoverished communities.


Yeah, they probably have little else to hold on to other than tradition.

[Euri]

It predates most current religions, but many Arab/Middle Easterners/Africans picked up the practice and morphed it into their religions somewhat.

It is most definitely a female subjugation thing. In the more mild forms, it inhibits/prevents much pleasure. In the more extreme forms, it actually causes pain every single time the mutilated woman would have sex.

[Bill Dungsroman]

Let it be known that I don't do anything on this board I wouldn't do in real life.
Then go shout NIGGER SPIC KIKE in a crowded room, Big Pants.

[Brandon Clements]

Let it be known that I don't do anything on this board I wouldn't do in real life.
Where do you work for again? Let me know, so I never submit my resume there.

[Clay]

FYI, there are multiple forms of Female Genital Mutilation (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs241/en/):


* Type I - excision of the prepuce, with or without excision of part or all of the clitoris;

* Type II - excision of the clitoris with partial or total excision of the labia minora;

* Type III - excision of part or all of the external genitalia and stitching/narrowing of the vaginal opening (infibulation);

* Type IV - pricking, piercing or incising of the clitoris and/or labia; stretching of the clitoris and/or labia; cauterization by burning of the clitoris and surrounding tissue;

* scraping of tissue surrounding the vaginal orifice (angurya cuts) or cutting of the vagina (gishiri cuts);

* introduction of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina to cause bleeding or for the purpose of tightening or narrowing it; and any other procedure that falls under the definition given above.



They are all heinous, though the infibulation is the one that really makes me hate the people that perform it. Prior to a recent push to eradicate FGM, I believe that something like 90% of Ethiopian women underwent infibuation.

[Unicorn McGriddle]

Yeah, it's all pretty fucked up, but the really insidious part is that these people wouldn't hold down a squirming little girl and knife up her crotch as she screamed in shock and agony without what they saw as a really, REALLY good reason. As long as they retain that reason, they're going to feel worse about not doing it than doing it, so the reason is what needs to be attacked -- but obliquely, becuase people hate it when you try to change their minds. Also, if Egypt's social conservatives latch onto it as a good thing, it may stick around for a surprisingly long time. The bottom line is that Egypt's government is going to have to fight to put its money where its mouth is, and that may not wind up being the best place for its money.

[Anders Hallin]

A gentle touch was what was needed.

[Dirt]

So I looked female circumcision up on Wikipedia. This shit is fucked up.

[Midnight Son]

So I looked female circumcision up on Wikipedia. This shit is fucked up.

Oh come on! You're just looking at it through the lens of a civilized modern society......

[Dirt]

Oh come on! You're just looking at it through the lens of a civilized modern society......
Dude, it's worse than foot binding.

[Midnight Son]

I was being sarcastic, of course. Won't someone enable smileys! (And frownies.)

[marxeil]

According to an article I read, women circumcision was banned 10 years ago in Egypt. However, there was a loophole - doctors were still allowed to perform this procedure. This ordinance was now canceled. This was done after a report of the death of an 11 years old girl in a private clinic. Apparently the death was caused by excessive anesthesia.

The government appointed grand mufti and other religious figure heads spoke against this custom calling it un Islamic. It was also stated that the Koran does not require or mention women circumcision.

In March this year, the Arithrean government also banned women circumcision.

You can read some more in Rüdiger Nehberg's web site (http://www.target-human-rights.com/index.php?lang=en). This guy formed TARGET which is dedicated to fight this custom.