Sierra Leone's "Top" Female "Circumcisers" Lay Down Their Weapons.
According to TodayOnline.com, relaying word from the Sierra News in Sierra Leone, fifteen women considered the "top" female circumcisers in their district have publicly abandoned their trade. At a rally organized by an NGO called the Amazonian Initiative Movement, the women pledged to work toward "safeguarding the health of women and girls," the state-owned newspaper said. As a symbolic gesture, they burned the tools of their trade.
For more about just how strong a statement these women have made, read this article from the UN.
UPDATE: By the way, calling this maiming "female circumcision" is like calling scalping a haircut. Language is of critical importance in telling the truth. It is our responsibility not to obfuscate the absolute horror of this practice.
Many moons ago in NY, I saw a film by Alice Walker and Pratibha Parmar called "Warrior Marks," about female genital mutilation (FGM), and I have never forgotten what Alice Walker said when asked why she felt she could comment on and criticize another group's cultural practice (as if cultural practices exist in a vacuum and are not bound to laws and enlightenments!): torture is not culture. Yes.
I remember, too, how simply amazing Efua Dorkenoo was. I fell head over heels in love with her, and I hate to say the word 'regret', but it's close; I wish I'd run off to London to work with her. Young people reading this blog, I say to you, Do these things for one day you'll have to (pretend to) be a sensible person w/ a mortgage and a career and all that jazz. Run off to assist the Efua Dorkenoos of the world and learn from them! The world needs you.
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