FGM Charities targeting Africans have questionable motives..story by Nation newspaper.

First, they came for our babies. Now, they want to adopt African women’s private parts. Yes, a charity based in the United States wants you to “adopt a clitoris”.

Clitoraid claims to help victims of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Burkina Faso by funding a “Pleasure Hospital” in this West African country that will surgically rebuild women’s “organs of pleasure”. Its spiritual leader, who goes by the name Prophet Rael, says that he founded the private non-profit organisation to help as many circumcised women as possible to “be whole again”.

Clitoraid is getting support from various US-based organisations, including those purporting to be feminist. (Interestingly, the government of Burkina Faso has already been performing these reconstruction surgeries for free.)

Now no-one can deny that FGM has had a devastating physical and emotional effect on millions of girls and women in Africa. Study upon study has shown that FGM — in all its forms — cripples women physically, makes childbirth and sex extremely painful and leaves lasting scars on women’s psyches. It cannot be tolerated or encouraged in this day and age.

So why is this organisation and its advocates receiving so much flak from none other than African women themselves?

In a blog posting titled “Can? We? Save? Africa?”, San Francisco-based Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg explains: “For years now, African women have been complaining that even as we are engaged in domestic campaigns to end the practice of female circumcision within our communities, the eager participation by Westerners, particularly Western feminists, has done much more harm than good.

“In a nutshell, Western feminists have taken over the space, displaced African women’s voices on the issue and have carelessly thrown about their neo-colonial weight in ways that have served only to further entrench the issue.”

Kamau-Rutenberg has now started a campaign that questions the motives of Clitoraid and other campaigns like it, including one called Underwear for Africa that targets orphans in Kenya.

Started in 2007 by the US-based charity Mothers Fighting for Others, the campaign aims to collect underwear for distribution to Kenyan orphanages, IDP camps and such places where underwear is apparently in short supply.

The organisation claims to have donated 2,000 pairs of underwear to children living in two IDP camps in Kenya in April 2009. A noble gesture, but why does it bother so many Africans?

“PART OF THE PROBLEM WITH PHILANTHROPY towards Africa is that of ease,” explains Kamua-Rutenberg, who as head of a non-profit organisation in the US says she keeps running into well-meaning but completely off-the-mark efforts to “save” Africa. Unfortunately, the devil is always in the details. In the rush to simplify complex situations such as the one in Darfur, we lose understanding of historical context and how that impacts what is currently happening.”

Central to the debate is the question of dignity. If African women’s body parts can be appropriated — or “adopted” — by well-intentioned, albeit ignorant, Westerners, then what will be appropriated next? If they can adopt our bodies, what’s stopping them from “adopting” entire nations?

A case in point is the singer Madonna’s relentless campaign to adopt Malawian children even in the face of opposition from the parents of the children themselves.

James Kambewa, a security guard in South Africa and the father of five-year old girl Mercy, is challenging Madonna’s right to keep his daughter, but admits that he does not have the kind of money to hire a lawyer who will take Madonna to court. Are his rights and dignity worth less than hers because he is poor?

Recently, at the Pan-African Media Conference, Prof Guy Berger from South Africa argued that Africa’s negative image in the international media will only be fixed if the reality of Africa is fixed first. In other words, when African countries become wealthy, well-functioning societies, the international media will have no choice but to focus on the positive.

I beg to differ. In the last few years, African countries, including conflict-ravaged Sudan and Ethiopia, have enjoyed double-digit economic growth rates, but one would never know it by looking at images of these countries in the international media, where war, witchcraft, poverty and famine in Africa make more headlines than thriving economies.

Perhaps the question we should be asking is: Who is saving who? In his book The Road to Hell, Micheal Maren writes: “The starving African exists as a point in space from which we measure our (Westerners’) own wealth, success, and prosperity, a darkness against which we can view our own cultural triumphs...

“The belief that we can help is an affirmation of our own worth in the grand scheme of things… And it is in their (Africans’) helplessness that they become a marketable commodity.”

Ambassador Lucy .s .Mashua President of Mashua's voice for the voiceless International
Assisting refugees in the US and representation in advocasy
The Global Ambassador for fighting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and standing up for Women’s Rights.
And the Chairperson of a worldwide campaign against FGM.
http://twitter.com/Mashua
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mashua-Against-FGM/225406701415

Doctor invents female condom with 'teeth' STOPPING RAPE IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Few dare confront it, yet the violating act of rape is still very much an aspect of every society. But for one South African doctor, something needed to be done — and fast — to stem the menace after her encounter with a rape victim.

She invented female condoms with “teeth”. Four decades ago when Dr Sonnet Ehlers was reportedly on call at night, a devastated rape victim was brought in.

Eyes lifeless

“Her eyes were lifeless; she was like a breathing corpse. She looked at me and said, ‘If only I had teeth down there,’” recalled Ehlers, who was a 20-year-old medical researcher at the time. It was then that Dr Sonnet decided someday, she would come up with something to help fight rape, according to CNN.

Forty years down the line, she came up with a unique solution, worn by women like tampons — the Rape-aXe. The device can only be surgically removed once it has lodged itself on the male genital, which will result in positive identification of the attacker and subsequent arrest.

The rapist in question will not be able to walk right or even urinate due to constant pain. If he tries getting rid of it, it will only get a tighter grip. However, the condom will not cause any serious harm like breaking the skin or giving way to the danger of any fluid exposure.

Dr Sonnet went a step further and consulted “engineers, gynaecologists and psychologists” to help make the design safe and not subject victims to HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases.

The anti-rape condom is now undergoing a trial period in South Africa, where it is distributed free to women, especially during the Fifa World Cup. Once the trial is over, it will be available on the market for $2.20 (Sh170).

So will the razor sharp condom be the answer to rapists? Perhaps in South Africa, which according to Human Rights Watch has one of the highest incidence of rape in the world. A 2009 report by the country’s Medical Research Council found that 28 per cent of men surveyed had raped a woman or girl, with one in 20 saying they had raped in the past year.

Some people see Dr Sonnet’s innovation as welcome, since women have always taken drastic steps to ward off rape. However, critics are accusing Dr Sonnet of developing a medieval weapon in fighting rape.

They are asserting that the device will only incite more violence against women since a man subjected to great pain might easily kill the woman wearing it, adding that the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted represents enslavement that no woman should be subjected to.

Ms Rosemary Okello, the director of African Woman and Child Feature Service (AWC), a non-governmental organisation based in Nairobi, seems to agree. Speaking to the Nation Media Group’s online publication, Africa Review, Ms Okello says “medical invention cannot be used to tackle a social problem”, since this will not address say, sexual harassment.

Then there are all those babies who are subjected to rape, but are still too young to wear the condom. Ms Okello added that although the device had been developed in good faith, it was still gender and age biased. “What about men who are also victims of rape, and how many women will have access to it?” she asked.

Like other lobbyists, she is instead rooting for more preventative and educational measures for both men and women, aimed at stopping sexual assault in the first place. At the World Cup, the world is watching to see if rapists will be deterred.
Ambassador Lucy .s .Mashua President of Mashua's voice for the voiceless International
Assisting refugees in the US and representation in advocasy
The Global Ambassador for fighting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and standing up for Women’s Rights.
And the Chairperson of a worldwide campaign against FGM.
http://twitter.com/Mashua
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mashua-Against-FGM/225406701415

It is called Female Genital Mutilation not female genital cutting!!

As a survivor of this atrocity I am mad as hell for the organisations ,individuals who have never been through this terror bringing up the theory of lessening MUTILATION to cutting.
For instance you can never belittle RAPE to forced sex to please the RAPISTS and work with them..I say send the rapists and mutilators to JAIL or HELL!!! Stop using FGM for publicity and donations at the expense of 300 million survivors and millions of victims murdered every year...Then you try to convince me with your intact genitals you know better about the hell we have gone through and still live with it every single day!!!!! while 200 of us bleed to death every day and you dare say it is cutting? SHAME ON YOU!!!!!
All I know is FGM as a form of sex discrimination and gender-based violence performed to control women's sexuality, ensure virginity until marriage, and guarantee their acceptance into a particular community. A 2008 statement on FGM adopted by 10 prominent UN agencies
clearly states that,
the guiding principles for considering genital practices as FGM should be those of human rights, including the right to health, the rights of children and the right to nondiscrimination on the basis of sex."
Let there be no lighter misinterpreted version for any organisation, movement, culture, religion, country or individual to misconstrue FGM's harmful face of atrocity.
Ambassador Lucy .s .Mashua President of Mashua's voice for the voiceless International
Assisting refugees in the US and representation in advocasy
The Global Ambassador for fighting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and standing up for Women’s Rights.
And the Chairperson of a worldwide campaign against FGM.
http://twitter.com/Mashua
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mashua-Against-FGM/225406701415

LONG LIVE AFRIKA. WORLD CUP 2010 Zangalewa

The death of Nelson Mandela’s great-granddaughter cast a shadow over the opening day of the World Cup on Friday, dampening the spirits of a nation proud and excited to be hosting the world’s most popular sporting event.

Zenani Mandela, 13, was killed in a car accident on the way home from a World Cup concert in Soweto on Thursday night, where tens of thousands of people had sung and danced with headline music stars Shakira and the Black Eyed Peas.


REST IN PEACE SWEETHEART GONE TOO SOON:(
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4768606&id=608286318

Ambassador Lucy .s .Mashua President of Mashua's voice for the voiceless International
Assisting refugees in the US and representation in advocasy
The Global Ambassador for fighting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and standing up for Women’s Rights.
And the Chairperson of a worldwide campaign against FGM.
http://twitter.com/Mashua
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mashua-Against-FGM/225406701415

Fistula KNH Campaign

Women who have undergone Female Genital mutilation there is a 98% chance of developing Fistula and high rate of deaths during birth....in Kenya alone 470 women die every month giving birth...and every year over 1000 women develop fistula...and then they are told it's a curse when they cannot control their urine and bowel movement. FGM kills and no form should be allowed...plse sign the petition
http://www.change.org/petitions/view/sign_the_petition_demanding_that_the_aap_revoke_its_policy_statement_immediately_ambassador_mashua
now you see what happened to this 76 years old woman as a child affected the rest of her life..just a little nick and prick it's murder!!!!! most of women suffer and hide in shame:( Every year, about 1000 women develop fistula, a condition in which one loses control of their bowels in this country according to statistics from AMREF . It is one condition that takes away the dignity of a woman and most victims are usually stigmatized and considered social outcasts. The good news though is that it is repairable. Sylvia Chebet today met a 76 year old grandmother who has lived with the condition more than half her life.
here is the petition again
http://www.change.org/petitions/view/sign_the_petition_demanding_that_the_aap_revoke_its_policy_statement_immediately_ambassador_mashua

Ambassador Lucy .s .Mashua President of Mashua's voice for the voiceless International
Assisting refugees in the US and representation in advocasy
The Global Ambassador for fighting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and standing up for Women’s Rights.
And the Chairperson of a worldwide campaign against FGM.
http://twitter.com/Mashua
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mashua-Against-FGM/225406701415

Mashua Against FGM global radio

Mashua Against FGM global radio

DESPITE OUR OUTRAGE AAP CONTINUES TO SUPPORT FGM!!!! BY AMBASSADOR MASHUA FGM SURVIVOR

International women's rights organisations from the US, Africa, and Europe were quick to respond to this outrageous proposition calling on the AAP to retract its 2010 statement and revert back to its much stronger 1998 statement on the subject. The AAP's response, however, has thus far been underwhelming and they continue to justify this latest position on three grounds:

• "Nicking" is a minor procedure equivalent to a pin prick or ear piercing and has no harmful health consequences.

• Offering the "nick" demonstrates cultural sensitivity in serving immigrant populations.

• The "nick" is a "compromise" that could prevent families from performing more severe forms of FGM on their daughters

FGM, which involves the partial or total removal of the female genitalia, is carried out across Africa, some countries in Asia and the Middle East, and by immigrants of practicing communities living around the world. It is estimated that up to 140 million women and girls around the world are affected by it. The US department of health and human services estimated in 1997 that over 168,000 girls and women living in the US have either been, or are at risk of being, subjected to FGM.

A comparison of the AAP's 1998 and 2010 statements clearly demonstrates a dilution in the organisation's understanding of FGM as a form of sex discrimination and gender-based violence performed to control women's sexuality, ensure virginity until marriage, and guarantee their acceptance into a particular community. A 2008 statement on FGM adopted by 10 prominent UN agencies clearly states that, "the guiding principles for considering genital practices as FGM should be those of human rights, including the right to health, the rights of children and the right to nondiscrimination on the basis of sex."

The AAP's casual comparison of "nicking" of girls' genitalia to ear piercing demonstrates just how far from the international framework the organisation currently stands. "Nicking" cannot be pulled out of context and must be understood within the larger gender politics of controlling women's bodies and sexual rights.

Indigenous grassroots groups and activists, including traditional leaders and ex-mutilators across Africa, have for decades engaged in transforming their local communities to abandon the practice of all types of FGM and adopted alternative rites of passage instead. The protocol to the African charter on human and people's rights on the rights of women in Africa, a widely supported regional human rights treaty that has been ratified by 27 African countries, specifically prohibits "through legislative measures backed by sanctions, all forms of female genital mutilation, including medicalisation and para-medicalisation of female genital mutilation".

According to a member of the AAP's bioethics committee, the intention behind the revised 2010 policy is to issue a "statement on safety in a culturally sensitive context". The new policy justifies the shift from the 1998 terminology of "female genital mutilation" to "female genital cutting (FGC) or ritual genital cutting, by claiming that the former is "culturally insensitive language". It further validates paediatricians' offer to "nick" girls genitalia to "satisfy cultural requirements". This raises the question of what culture is being talked about and who are the gatekeepers of this culture that are being appeased – and what is the so-called "cultural identity" being preserved. Culture is fluid and evolves over time as practices that are rooted in inequality or injustice are questioned and abandoned. The AAP's current proposition undermines and negates local, national, and regional anti-FGM initiatives in Africa, which are equally a part of the cultural identity of communities where FGM occurs
.
But most importantly, the statement completely fails to recognise that human rights standards are absolute and not to be compromised upon in the name of possible harm reduction. The principle behind safeguarding human rights is harm elimination. The statement flies in the face of all international and regional deliberations on the issue, which have concluded that any medically unnecessary procedure to alter female genitalia constitutes a human rights violation and therefore must not be tolerated.

"Nicking" constitutes Type IV FGM, and the UN interagency statement clarifies that, "it has been considered important to maintain a broad definition of FGM in order to avoid loopholes that might allow the practice to continue".

The AAP must retract its statement.plse sign this petition But most importantly, the statement completely fails to recognise that human rights standards are absolute and not to be compromised upon in the name of possible harm reduction. The principle behind safeguarding human rights is harm elimination. The statement flies in the face of all international and regional deliberations on the issue, which have concluded that any medically unnecessary procedure to alter female genitalia constitutes a human rights violation and therefore must not be tolerated.

"Nicking" constitutes Type IV FGM, and the UN interagency statement clarifies that, "it has been considered important to maintain a broad definition of FGM in order to avoid loopholes that might allow the practice to continue". The genocide in Africa began with a small loophole and millions ended up dead..and millions internally displaced,and countless orphans and Rape used as a weapon of war. I know my people just a micro way that's all we need and children will die and AAP stands to be blamed.

The AAP must retract its statement.please sign this petition http://www.change.org/petitions/view/sign_the_petition_demanding_that_the_aap_revoke_its_policy_statement_immediately_ambassador_mashua

The Global Ambassador for fighting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and standing up for Women’s Rights.
And the Global Chairperson of a worldwide campaign against FGM.
http://twitter.com/Mashua