LibLink: Lynne Featherstone on successes in campaign against FGM

Lynne featherstone by paul walterOver on Huffington Post, Lynne Featherstone has written an article about the heartening early successes in the campaign against female genital mutilation. She writes:

“I wanted to save lives not put them at risk.”

That’s what a former female genital cutter told me during a visit to Kenya last week, as she explained why she downed her tools and instead became a birth attendant.

I believe this woman should be celebrated for taking such a brave stance against the centuries-old tradition of female genital mutilation (FGM).

And she’s not alone. In her home of Meru, Kenya there are now hundreds of women who deserve the same praise for abandoning the practice of FGM in their small community.

Kenya took the vital step of making female genital mutilation illegal in 2011 – also known as female genital cutting – but it is not just the laws or the threat of punishment that has brought about this amazing change.

It is the simple truth that has persuaded these women that there is no benefit to harming your daughter’s body. As one mother told me: “FGM does not make a woman strong – it makes her weak. Why would we defile our bodies?”

The community that has defied the old traditions has introduced an alternative, positive rite of passage for 13 year old girls to mark their transition to womanhood.  It has reduced FGM from 27% to 7%.

The UK is getting behind these efforts to make sure this unprecedented opportunity to end FGM isn’t missed. Our £35million fund will help communities across Africa get the support they need to reject this barbaric practice.

You can read the full article here.

* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.

Read more by or more about or .
This entry was posted in LibLink.
Advert

One Comment

Post a Comment

Lib Dem Voice welcomes comments from everyone but we ask you to be polite, to be on topic and to be who you say you are. You can read our comments policy in full here. Please respect it and all readers of the site.

To have your photo next to your comment please signup your email address with Gravatar.

Your email is never published. Required fields are marked *

*
*
Please complete the name of this site, Liberal Democrat ...?

Advert

Recent Comments

  • Steve Trevethan
    Might part of the "Special Relationship" be that both nations share having extreme differences of wealth distribution? Might this suit their leaders? In A...
  • Peter Martin
    "It’s more accurate to refer to Israelophobia, which means the de-legitimising of Israel and denial of its right to peace and security." It actu...
  • nigel hunter
    UK sitting on the fence looking both ways? Is there a chance we can go it alone and make trade deals with any country that is interested? We need to develop our...
  • Craig Levene
    This is UCLA in receipt of hundred of millions of Dollars of taxpayers money... That is what it's president presided over.. https://youtu.be/ZmBk3T935CI?si=...
  • Craig Levene
    'Since leaving the EU in 2016 it has suffered low growth, a drop in living standards and an even further drop in its international standing' Those towns that v...