ફીમેલ જેનિટલ કટિંગની આ પ્રથાને ફક્ત એકલા કાયદા દ્વારા જ સમાપ્ત કરી શકાય નહિં
આ આર્ટિકલ પહેલા સહિયો દ્વારા તારીખ 26 એપ્રિલ 2017ના રોજ અંગ્રેજીમાં પ્રકાશિત કરવામાં આવ્યો હતો. Read the English version here. લેખક : સબિહા બસરાઈ દેશ : કેલિફોર્નિયા, અમેરિકાઉંમર : 34 વર્ષ એફ.જી.સી. અથવા બોહરા સમાજ જેને ખતના તરીકે ઓળખે છે, તે મુદ્દો અંધકાર માંથી બહાર આવ્યો છે અને લોકો તેના વિષે ખુલ્લેઆમ વાત કરે છે એ મહત્વનું છે. ઘણા લોકો જાણતા નથી કે આ પ્રથા કેટલી ક્રૂર છે અને બૈરાઓની સેક્સ્યૂઆલિટી સંબંધી શરમને કારણે તેમજ મરદપ્રધાન સમાજની રચના દ્વારા લાગુ કરવામાં આવેલ રીપ્રોડક્ટિવ હેલ્થ (પ્રજનનક્ષમ સ્વાસ્થ્ય)ને કારણે લોકો એ વિષે વાત કરવાનું ટાળે છે. હું આશા રાખુ છું કે નાની દીકરીઓ પર એફ.જી.સી. ની પ્રક્રિયા કરવાના આરોપ હેઠળ એક બોહરા ડૉક્ટરને ગિરફ્તાર કરવામાં આવ્યા હોવાનો ડેટ્રોઈટનો કેસ ઘણાં કુટુંબોને આ પ્રથા ના અપનાવવા માટે પ્રોત્સાહિત કરશે જેથી, નવી પેઢીની નાની દીકરીઓને આવી પ્રથાઓ હેઠળથી પસાર ના થવું પડે. આ હાનિકારક પ્રથાનો મુદ્દો ધાર્મિક અથવા અધાર્મિક હોવું નથી. આ મુદ્દો સાચા અથવા ખોટા હોવાનો પણ નથી. પરંતુ, ખરી વાત એ છે કે ખતના પ્રક્રિયા એક અનુચિત કાર્ય છે. જો કે, ડેટ્રોઈટના કેસમાં બન્યું તેમ, અમેરિકન મુસ્લિમ પરની દેખરેખ ચિંતાઓ ઊભી કરે છે. આપણી મસ્જિદો અને કમ્યૂનિટિ સેન્ટરો પર પહેલાથી જ સરકારી એજન્સીઓ દેખરેખ રાખી રહી છે, જે આપણને જાતીભેદ કરીને આપણા સામાજીક અધિકારોનો ભંગ કરે છે. બધા બોહરાઓએ તે સમજવું મહત્વપૂર્ણ છે કે સરકારી એજન્સીઓના મનમાં આપણું હિત જ હોય એ જરૂરી નથી અને ખતનાના મુદ્દાનો લાભ ઉઠાવી તેઓ વધારે ત્રાસ આપવાનું અને આપણા સમાજ પર વધારે દેખરેખ રાખવાનું ઉચિત માની શકે છે. ખતના પ્રથા સમાપ્ત થવી જોઈએ પરંતુ, મારૂં માનવું છે કે સમાજને શિક્ષિત કરવા દ્વારા અને જમાતો (બોહરા સમાજની સભાઓ)ના આયોજનો દ્વારા જ આ પ્રથાનો સાચો અંત થશે. આપણામાંથી કોઈ ઈચ્છતું નથી કે આપણા સમાજમાં જબરદસ્તી કરવામાં આવે પરંતુ, આપણે સમજવું જોઈએ કે ફક્ત કાયદા દ્વારા જ તેનું સમાધાન થઈ શકે નહિં અને કેટલાક કિસ્સાઓમાં, સરકારી એજન્સીના અમુક અધિકારીઓની નકારાત્મક કાર્યવાહી આપણા સમાજની સુરક્ષા અને સલામતી માટે હાનિકારક રહી છે. તેથી, અમેરિકામાં રહેતા બધા બોહરાઓને હું સાવચેત કરું છું કે વકીલની હાજરી વિના સરકારી એજન્સીઓ સાથે ક્યારે વાત કરવી નહિં અને આપણા સમાજે સાથે મળી ખતના જેવી હાનિકારક પ્રથાઓને બંધ કરવાના માર્ગ શોધવા માટે પણ હું બધા બોહરાઓને પ્રોત્સાહિત કરવા માગુ છું.
Finally in the spotlight: Female Genital Cutting is getting national attention in Sri Lanka
Until a few months ago, Female Genital Cutting (FGC) in Sri Lanka was spoken about only in whispers within practicing communities and in a few news articles. Since last month, however, the issue has suddenly attracted the attention of the mainstream national media and has been the highlight of some crucial discussions among government ministers and activists. In Sri Lanka, FGC is practiced among the Dawoodi Bohras (who call the practice Khatna or Khafz) and among the Sunni Moor and Malay communities (who call it Sunnath). While the Bohras cut the clitoral hoods of girls at the age of seven, the Moors and Malays cut baby girls when they are 40 days old. (Read more about it here.) FGC is internationally recognised as a violation of the rights of women and children, and is illegal in several countries around the world. However, Sri Lanka — like its neighbour India — does not have a specific law against FGC/Khatna/Khafz/Sunnath. In order to push for a law banning FGC, a group of human rights activists and lawyers have been gathering testimonies of Sri Lankan FGC survivors. These testimonies have drawn recent media attention, and were also formally submitted to the Sri Lankan Parliament Sectoral Oversight Committee in a meeting earlier this month. This long overdue exposure of the practice of FGC in Sri Lanka is strongly linked to the controversies around the country’s personal laws for minority communities like Muslims. The background The public debate about FGC has been brought about in the midst of the discussion in Parliament on reforms to the MMDA (Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act), which was enacted by the Sri Lankan Parliament in 1951. According to this website, “The origin of Sri Lankan MMDA stems from a code of law on marriage and divorce exported from Batavia (present day Indonesia) in 1770 during the Dutch rule. This law has gone through a process of codification over a period of time and is based on Sharia law and Islamic legal practices. However, the Act also includes provisions pertaining to local customs unknown to Islamic law…” In addition, Article 16 in the Fundamental Rights chapter of the 1978 constitution of Sri Lanka enshrined MMDA and Muslim Personal Laws in Sri Lankan law through the following statement: “All written and unwritten law that existed prior to the 1978 Constitution is ‘valid and operative’.” This has been interpreted as legal validation of MMDA and Muslim Personal Laws and local customs even if they contradict, or are inconsistent with, the fundamental rights of Sri Lankan citizens. As the Sunday Observer stated in this article, “personal Laws exist to provide the minority communities the extra protection they need, but instead, they violate the fundamental rights of people in those communities.” The MMDA reform debates have been ongoing for decades, but they recently came back into serious discussion, with the Sri Lankan government’s application to regain the GSP+ (Generalised Scheme of Preference) from the EU. This preference was taken away from Sri Lanka sometime in 2010 citing non-compliance with international Human Rights standards. One of the criteria cited by the EU to grant this preference back to SL, was to bring about reform to the MMDA; claiming it as a rights violation against women and children. Citing these rights, many Muslim Women’s activists and lawyers urged for a ban on the practice of FGC, and gathered many testimonies from victims, which were presented to the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Women and Gender (POCWG) set up to address the MMDA reforms. Hope for the future In the past two weeks, with increasing media attention on FGC in Sri Lanka, some spokespersons from the country’s Dawoodi Bohra community have responded by defending the practice. Their argument is that FGC is “just a nick” and not harmful, should not be called “mutilation”, and that it is done for personal hygiene and for religious reasons. However, in a positive sign, a group of senior ministers in the Sri Lankan government reviewed the practice of FGC and came to an agreement that the ritual needs to be treated as a public health issue. The meeting, held last week, included the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Women and Child Affairs and the Chairperson of the National Committee on Women. The ministers indicated that they would work with the local Muslim communities and help raise awareness about the issue of Female Genital Cutting.
Female Genital Cutting is being practiced in Kerala too: Sahiyo investigation
by Aarefa Johari and Aysha Mahmood (Read the Malayalam version of this report here.) The practice of Female Genital Cutting (FGC) in India has so far been associated only with the Dawoodi Bohra community and other smaller Bohra sub-sects. However, a recent investigation by Sahiyo found that FGC – the ritual of cutting parts of the female genitalia – is also being practiced by some other communities in at least one part of Kerala. During an investigation in February, Sahiyo found a medical clinic in Kozhikode (Calicut) where two doctors admitted that they perform the procedure of “sunnath”, or circumcision, on both boys and girls. They claimed that women from several local Muslim sects are increasingly coming to their clinic to have sunnath performed for themselves, their daughters and even their daughters-in-law. The doctors said that in the female circumcision ritual, they cut the prepuce of the clitoris, also known as the clitoral hood, because it is allegedly “good for married life”. They also mentioned that “some husbands insist on it”. The doctors claimed that this ritual is also practiced in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Africa, but denied that it could be harmful. However, the sunnath ritual described by the Kozhikode doctors falls within the World Health Organisation’s definition of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C), which is internationally recognised as a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination against women. WHO defines FGM/C as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”. WHO has classified FGM/C into four types, based on degrees of severity. The least severe – and most common – is Type 1, which involves partial or total removal of the clitoris or the clitoral hood. (Read about the other Types of FGM/C here.) Female Genital Cutting in Kerala Sahiyo’s investigation in Kerala was based on a tip-off from a resident of the state who had come across discussions about sunnath on females in some online Malayalam forums. The resident claimed that the practice is typically performed by an “ozathy” or a traditional cutter without medical training, but is also being done by some doctors in the Malabar region. When Sahiyo spoke to gynaecologists in prominent hospitals in Kozhikode and Malapuram, they stated they were unaware of the practice and were firmly opposed to it. However, one small clinic in Kozhikode, run by a doctor known for performing male circumcisions, candidly admitted practicing sunnath on girls as well. For the investigation, the Sahiyo reporter posed as woman who needed to make inquiries about female sunnath because her fiancé’s mother wanted her to be circumcised before marriage. When asked if she performs female sunnath, the lady doctor at the clinic said, “yes, we do it”. She said that the practice involved “cutting the foreskin of the clitoris” to increase sexual pleasure, and that it is “good for married life”. The lady doctor claimed that the practice was now growing popular among Muslim women from “many sects” in Kerala, and that she performed it for girls and women of “any age”. For very young girls, she said, the procedure is sometimes performed by the male doctor who runs the clinic. The doctors apply local anaesthesia before the cutting, and they claim the wound takes five days to heal. “It is better to do it when the girl is a baby,” the lady doctor said. “But these days a lot of women prefer to get it done for themselves immediately after delivering their baby, when they’re also getting other stitches to their vagina. That way they have to deal with two pains in one go.” According to the doctors, some women also ask for sunnath after delivery because “delivery lessens sexual pleasure and the sunnath helps enhance it”. The lady doctor also offers pre- and post-marriage counselling at the clinic, and she claimed that she recommends sunnath for women during such counselling to allegedly improve their sex lives. “Once their sex life is better, their marriage will also be happy,” she said. When Sahiyo asked whether the practice is compulsory for Muslim women, the doctor said, “It is not compulsory, but if your mother-in-law has told you to do it, then it is compulsory for you, you have to get it done.” The male doctor at the clinic claimed that the practice is mentioned in “four or five Hadiths”, or Islamic texts containing the teachings of the Prophet. “You should read up about it, this is also done in Saudi, Egypt and Africa,” he said. The doctor denied any knowledge of the fact that this practice is controversial or that some African communities cut more than just the clitoris. “There is no controversy, very little is cut,” he said. Despite this, the clinic’s website mentions only male circumcision in the list of services it offers, and makes no mention of female circumcision. The practice is secretive, the doctors said, because it is a “female issue”, and the religious taboos associated with “all things female” prevent people from talking about it. However, the doctors asked the Sahiyo reporters to “spread the word” among friends that they perform sunnath for girls. It is unclear how widespread the practice of FGC is in Kerala, or for how long it has been practiced in the region. Since the investigation, Sahiyo has come across at least two persons – one from Kerala and one from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu – who claim to know a female relative who has undergone sunnath, but the women in question did not wish to come on record. Is FGC illegal in India? According to WHO, there are no medical benefits of any type of FGM/C, and the practice can in fact be harmful. The negative health consequences of Type 1 FGM/C include pain, bleeding, urinary problems, infections, injury to genital tissue, sexual problems and long-term psychological trauma. The clitoris, located above the vagina and urethra, is a bundle of sensitive nerve tissue that
പെൺസുന്നത്ത്/ചേലാകർമ്മം കേരളത്തിലും ഒരു സഹിയോ അന്വേഷണം
– ആരിഫാ ജോഹരി , ആയിഷ മഹ്മൂദ് എന്നിവരുടെ കണ്ടെത്തലുകൾ. (Read the English version of this report here.) ഇന്ത്യയിൽ പെൺകുട്ടികളുടെ ചേലാകർമ്മം, ഇന്ന് വരെ ദാവൂദി ബോഹ്റാ വിഭാഗക്കാരുടെ ഇടയിലും മറ്റു ചെറുബോഹ്റാ വിഭാഗങ്ങളുടെയും ഇടയിൽ മാത്രമാണ് ആചരിച്ചു വരുന്നത് എന്നാണു പൊതുവെയുള്ള വിശ്വാസം . എന്നാൽ, സഹിയോ എന്ന സംഘടന ഈയടുത്ത് നടത്തിയ ചില അന്വേഷണങ്ങളിൽ , പെൺസുന്നത്ത് മറ്റു ചില ഇസ്ലാമിക വിഭാഗങ്ങളുടെ ഇടയിലും , കേരളത്തിന്റെ ചിലഭാഗങ്ങളിൽ എങ്കിലും, നടത്തുന്നതായി സൂചന ലഭിക്കുകയുണ്ടായി. ഫെബ്രുവരിയിൽ നടത്തിയ ഒരു അണ്ടർകവർ അന്വേഷണത്തിൽ, സഹിയോയുടെ പ്രവർത്തകർ, കോഴിക്കോട്ടുള്ള ഒരു ക്ലിനിക്കിൽ, പെൺചേലാകർമ്മം ചെയ്യാറുണ്ടെന്നു സമ്മതിക്കുന്ന രണ്ട് ഡോക്ടർമാരെ പരിചയപ്പെടുകയുണ്ടായി. പെൺകുട്ടികളുടെയും ആൺകുട്ടികളുടെയും ചേലാകര്മ്മം അവരുടെ ക്ലിനിക്കിൽ സ്ഥിരമായി നടക്കാറുണ്ടെന്ന് അവർ അവകാശപ്പെട്ടു. അവരുടെ വാദമനുസരിച്ച് കേരളത്തിന്റ പലഭാഗങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നും സ്ത്രീകൾ സുന്നത്ത് ചെയ്യാനായി അവരെ സമീപിക്കുകയും, അവരുടെ പെൺമക്കളെയും, മരുമകളെയും കൊണ്ട് വരാറുണ്ടെന്നും പറയുന്നു. ഇവരുടെ എണ്ണത്തിൽ വർദ്ധനവും ഉണ്ടെന്ന് അവർ പറയുന്നു. ഡോക്ടർ വിശദീകരിക്കുന്നത്, പെൺസുന്നത്തിനു സ്ത്രീകളുടെ യോനീഛദത്തിന്റെ (clitoris) അറ്റത്തുള്ള തോല് നീക്കുകയാണ് ചെയ്യുക. ഇത് clitoral hood എന്നാണുഅറിയപ്പെടുന്നത്. അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ അഭിപ്രായത്തിൽ ഇത് “വൈവാഹികജീവിതം അത്യാഹ്ലാദകരമാക്കുന്നു”. മാത്രമല്ല ചില ഭർത്താക്കന്മാരും, ഭാര്യമാരും ഇതിനു നിർബന്ധം പിടിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു. സൗദിയിലും ഈജിപ്തിലും ആഫ്രിക്കയിലും ഇത് സർവ്വസാധാരണമാണെന്നും- ഇതിൽ യാതൊരു അപകടം ഇല്ലെന്നും അവർ സാക്ഷ്യപെടുത്തുന്നു. എന്നിരിക്കിലും, കോഴിക്കോട്ടുള്ള ഈ ഡോക്ടർമാർ വിവരിച്ച രീതിയിലുള്ള ചേലാകർമ്മം ലോകാരോഗ്യസംഘടനയുടെ (WHO) Female Genital Mutilation / Cutting (FGM/ C) എന്ന നിർവചനത്തിൽപെടുന്നതാണ്. ഇതാവട്ടെ മാനുഷികാവകാശങ്ങൾ ഹനിക്കുകയും, സ്ത്രീകൾക്ക് എതിരായുള്ള വിവേചനപൂർണ്ണനടപടിയായി അംഗീകരിക്കപ്പെട്ടതും ആണ്. ലോകാരോഗ്യസംഘടന FGM/ Cയെ ഇങ്ങനെ നിർവചിക്കുന്നു “സ്ത്രീകളുടെ ബാഹ്യമായി കാണപ്പെടുന്ന യോനി വൈദ്യശാസ്ത്രപരമായ ആവശ്യങ്ങൾക്കല്ലാതെ പൂർണ്ണമോ ഭാഗികമോ ആയി നീക്കം ചെയ്യുന്നതോ, മുറിവേൽപ്പിക്കുന്നതോ ആയ എല്ലാ രീതിയിലുള്ള പ്രവർത്തിയും ഇതിൽപെടുന്നു” ലോകാരോഗ്യസംഘടനാ FGM/ C അതിന്റെ തീവ്രത അനുസരിച്ച് നാല് തരമായി തിരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. ഏറ്റവും തീവ്രത കുറഞ്ഞതും -എന്നാൽ ഏറ്റവും പൊതുവായി നടത്തപെടുന്നതും ഇതിൽ ടൈപ് വൺ എന്ന് വിളിക്കപ്പെടുന്ന അഗ്രചർമ്മം മുറിച്ച് നീക്കുന്ന രീതിയാണ്. കേരളത്തിലെ പെൺസുന്നത്ത്: സ്ത്രീചേലാകർമ്മത്തെ കുറിച്ചുള്ള ഒരു മലയാളം ബ്ലോഗിൽ വന്ന കമന്റ് കാണുകയും , സഹിയോയെ ബന്ധപ്പെടുകയും ചെയ്ത ഒരു മലയാളിയിൽ നിന്നാണ് നമ്മുടെ അന്വേഷണം തുടങ്ങുന്നത്. അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ അറിവ് വച്ച്, കേരളത്തിൽ ഇത് നടത്തുന്നത് “ഒസ്സാതികൾ” എന്ന് പ്രാദേശികമായി അറിയപ്പെട്ടിരുന്ന ക്ഷുരകന്മാർ ആയിരുന്നു- അപൂർവ്വമായി ഡോക്ടർമാരും. ഇതനുസരിച്ച് സഹിയോ പ്രവർത്തകർ മലബാറിലെ ചില ആശുപത്രികൾ സന്ദർശിക്കുകയും , അന്വേഷണം നടത്തുകയും ചെയ്തു. ഈ ഹോസ്പിറ്റലുകളിൽ ഞങ്ങൾ ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട ഡോക്ടർമാർ ഇങ്ങനെയൊരു ആചാരത്തെ കുറിച്ച് കേട്ടറിവ് മാത്രമാണെന്നും , അതൊരു രീതിയിലും അംഗീകരിക്കുകയോ പിന്തുടരുകയോ ചെയ്യാറില്ല എന്ന് ഉറപ്പിച്ച് പറഞ്ഞു. മാത്രമല്ല, അങ്ങനെയുള്ള എന്തെങ്കിലും കണ്ടാൽ അത് റിപ്പോർട്ട് ചെയ്യുകയും ചെയ്യും എന്നും പറഞ്ഞു. ഇതിനു ശേഷമാണ് സുന്നത്ത് ക്ലിനിക് എന്ന് പരക്കെ അറിയപ്പെടുന്ന ഒരു ചെറിയ ക്ലിനിക്കിൽ ഇത് ചെയ്യാറുണ്ട് എന്ന് അവിടെയുള്ള ഡോക്ടർ തന്നെ യാതൊരു സങ്കോചവും ഇല്ലാതെ സമ്മതിച്ചത്. അന്വേഷണത്തിനായി സഹിയോപ്രവർത്തകർ ആവശ്യക്കാരായി നടിക്കുകയും അവരെ സമീപിക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു. ഒരു പ്രവർത്തക തന്നെ ഭർതൃവീട്ടിൽ നിന്നും നിർബന്ധിക്കുന്നു എന്ന വ്യാജേന അതിനെ പറ്റി കൂടുതൽ അറിയാൻ വന്നതാണെന്നും പേടിയുണ്ടെന്നും പറഞ്ഞു. “ഇവിടെ ഇഷ്ടം പോലെ ചെയ്യാറുണ്ടല്ലോ” എന്നായിരുന്നു ലേഡി ഡോക്ടറുടെ മറുപടി. തുടർന്ന് അത് ചെയ്യുന്ന രീതി വിശദമായി പറഞ്ഞു തരികയും “ലൈംഗിക സുഖം വർദ്ധിക്കുകയും” “വൈവാഹികജീവിതത്തിനു ഒഴിച്ച് കൂടാനാവാത്തതും” എന്ന് ഊട്ടിഉറപ്പിക്കുന്ന രീതിയിൽ പറയുകയും ചെയ്തു. തങ്ങളുടെ അടുത്ത് വൈവാഹിക കൗസലിങ്ങിന് വരുന്നവരോട് തങ്ങൾ പെൺസുന്നത്ത് നീർദ്ദേശിക്കാറുണ്ടെന്നും, അതവരുടെ ലൈംഗികജീവിതവും വിവാഹജീവിതവും ആനന്ദപ്രദമാക്കും എന്നും ഇവർ അവകാശപ്പെടുന്നു. കേരളത്തിലെ എല്ലാ വിഭാഗം മുസ്ലിങ്ങളുടെയും ഇടയിൽ ഇത് വളരെ പ്രചാരം നേടുന്നുണ്ടെന്നും ആളുകൾ അന്വേഷിച്ച് വരുന്നുണ്ടെന്നും ഇവർ പറയുന്നു. മാത്രമല്ല, എല്ലാ പ്രായത്തിലുള്ള പെൺകുട്ടികളിലും ചെയ്ത പരിചയം തങ്ങൾക്കുണ്ടെന്നും ഇവർ അവകാശപ്പെടുന്നു. വളരെ കുഞ്ഞുകുട്ടികൾക്ക് അധികവും പുരുഷഡോക്ടർ ആണ് ചെയ്യാറുള്ളതെന്നും മറ്റുള്ളവ താനാണ് കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യാറുള്ളതെന്നും ലേഡി ഡോക്ടർ പറഞ്ഞു. പൂർണ്ണ സ്വകാര്യത ക്ലിനിക് വാഗ്ദാനം ചെയുന്നു. ചേലാകർമ്മത്തിനു മുൻപേ ലോക്കൽ അനസ്തീസിയ ചെയ്ത് ആ ഭാഗം മരവിപ്പിക്കുകയും , തുടർന്ന് വേദനസംഹാരിയും നൽകുന്നതായിരിക്കും. മുറിവ് ഉണങ്ങാൻ അഞ്ചു മുതൽ ആറു ദിവസം എടുക്കും എന്നാണു അറിയിച്ചത്. “കൈക്കുഞ്ഞായിരിക്കുന്പോൾ ചെയ്യുന്നതാണ് അഭികാമ്യം. പക്ഷെ ഇപ്പോൾ ഒരു പാട് സ്ത്രീകൾ അവരുടെ പ്രസവശേഷം, സുന്നത്ത് ചെയ്യാറുണ്ട്. അതാകുന്പോൾ പ്രസവസമയത്ത് ഉള്ള തുന്നലും, ഇതിന്റെ തുന്നലും എല്ലാം ഒരു വേദനയിൽ കഴിഞ്ഞു കിട്ടും. ശേഷം അവരുടെ ലൈംഗികസുഖവും ഇരട്ടിക്കും. പ്രസവശേഷം പലരുടെയും സുഖം കുറയുന്നതായി കാണാം.” എന്ന് ലേഡി ഡോക്ടർ വിശദീകരിക്കുന്നു. മുസ്ലിം സ്ത്രീകൾക്ക് ഇത് നിർബന്ധമാണോ എന്ന് സഹിയോ ചോദിച്ചപ്പോൾ “നിബന്ധമൊന്നുമല്ല. പക്ഷെ ഭർത്താവും അമ്മായിയമ്മയും പറയുകയാണെങ്കിൽ നിങ്ങൾ ചെയ്തേ തീരൂ, നിങ്ങൾക്ക് അത് നീർബന്ധം തന്നെയാണ്” എന്ന് ഡോക്ടർ മറുപടി നൽകുന്നു. ക്ലിനിക്കിലെ പുരുഷഡോക്ടർ, ഹദീസിൽ നാലഞ്ചിടത്ത്ഇ ഇതിനെ കുറിച്ച് വളരെ വ്യക്തമായി പരാമർശിക്കുന്നുണ്ടെന്നും, അവ വായിക്കുന്നത് നന്നായിരിക്കുമെന്നും ഉപദേശിക്കുന്നു. മാത്രമല്ല സൗദിയിലും ഈജിപ്തിലും ആഫ്രിക്കയിലും എത്രയോ ആയിരം വര്ഷങ്ങളായി ഇത് പിന്തുടരുന്നുണ്ടല്ലോ എന്നും ഓർമിപ്പിക്കുന്നു. ആ രാജ്യങ്ങളിലെ ഇത്തരം ആചാരങ്ങളെ കുറിച്ച് പേടിപ്പെടുത്തുന്ന കഥകളും , അതിനെതിരായി വിവാദങ്ങളും കണ്ടതായി പ്രവർത്തകർ ആശങ്ക പ്രകടിപ്പിച്ചപ്പോൾ “അതൊക്കെ വെറുതെയാണ്. ഒരു ചെറിയ മുറിവ് മാത്രമാണ്, അല്ലാതെ മുഴുവനായി മുറിച്ച് കളയുകയൊന്നും ഇല്ല” എന്ന് ഡോക്ടർ വ്യക്തമാക്കുന്നു. എന്നാൽ, ഈ ക്ലിനിക്കിന്റെ വെബ്സൈറ്റിൽ ആൺകുട്ടികളുടെ സുന്നത്തിനെ കുറിച്ച് മാത്രമേ പരസ്യം ചെയ്തിട്ടുള്ളൂ എന്ന കാര്യം ചൂണ്ടി കാണിച്ചപ്പോൾ, അവർ അത് വിട്ടു പോയതാണെന്നും, അതൊന്നു മറക്കാതെ ചെയ്യണം എന്ന് പരസ്പരം ഓർമ്മിപ്പിക്കുകയും ചെയ്തു. മാത്രമല്ല പ്രവർത്തകരോട് ഞങ്ങളുടെ സുഹൃത്തുക്കളോടും കുടുംബക്കാരോടും ഈ സർവ്വീസ് ഇവിടെ ലഭ്യമാണെന്ന് അറിയിക്കണം എന്ന് ആവശ്യപ്പെട്ടു. പെൺസുന്നത്ത് കേരളത്തിൽ എത്രത്തോളം വിപുലമാണ് എന്നതിന് കണക്കുകൾ ഇല്ല- എത്ര കാലമായി എന്നതിനോ. സ്ത്രീലൈംഗികത സംബദ്ധമായ വിഷയമായത് കൊണ്ടും, മതത്തിന്റെ ഒരു ഘടന കാരണവും വളരെ സ്വകാര്യമായി മാത്രം, ഒരു പക്ഷെ, അനുഷ്ഠിച്ച്വരുന്ന ഇത്തരം ആചാരങ്ങളെ കുറിച്ച് വിവരം ശേഖരിക്കുന്നത് പ്രയാസമേറിയതാണ്. സഹിയോയുടെ അന്വേഷണങ്ങൾക്ക് ഒടുവിൽ; പെൺസുന്നത്തിനു വിധേയയായ രണ്ട് പേര് ; കേരളത്തിൽ നിന്ന് ഒരു സ്ത്രീയെയും കോയന്പത്ത്തൂരിൽ നിന്നു ഒരു സ്ത്രീയെയും കണ്ടെത്തുകയും സഹിയോ ബന്ധപ്പെടുകയും ചെയ്തു. എന്നാൽ രണ്ടു പേരും ഒരു വിധത്തിലും ഇതിനെ കുറിച്ച് സംസാരിക്കാനോ സാക്ഷ്യപെടുത്താനോ തയ്യാറായില്ല. പെൺസുന്നത്ത് ഇന്ത്യയിൽ നിയമവിരുദ്ധമാണോ? ലോകാരോഗ്യസംഘടനയുടെ വിവരണം അനുസരിച്ച്, പെൺസുന്നത്ത് കൊണ്ട് യാതൊരു വിധത്തിലുമുള്ള നേട്ടവുമില്ല എന്ന് മാത്രമല്ല അത് ദോഷകരമാണ് താനും. ടൈപ്പ് വൺ FGM/ Cയുടെ ദൂഷ്യഫലങ്ങൾ വേദന, രക്തംപോക്ക്, മൂത്രാശയ അണുബാധ, യോനീകോശങ്ങൾക്കു സംഭവിക്കാവുന്ന പരിക്ക്, ലൈംഗികപ്രശ്നങ്ങൾ, മാനസികമായ ആഘാതങ്ങൾ എന്നിവ WHO രേഖപെടുത്തുന്നു. യോനിയുടെയും മൂത്രനാളത്തിന്റെയും ഇടയിലുള്ള യോനീച്ഛദം അഥവാ ക്ലിറ്റോറിസ് അതിവൈകാരികമായ നാഡികോശങ്ങളാൽ സന്പന്നമായ ഒരു അവയവഭാഗമാണ്. അതിന്റെ ഏകലക്ഷ്യം സ്ത്രീകളുടെ ലൈംഗിക ആനന്ദം മാത്രമാണ്. അത് മുറിച്ച് മാറ്റുകയോ, പരിക്കേൽപ്പിക്കുകയോ ചെയ്യുന്നതിലൂടെ ലൈംഗികാസ്വാദനവും ഉത്തേജനവും കുറയുകയാണ് ചെയ്യുന്നത്. FGC ഒരു ഇസ്ലാമിക ആചാരമല്ല, ഇതിനെ കുറിച്ച് ഖുർആനിൽ എവിടെയും പ്രതിപാദിച്ചിട്ടുമില്ല. ഇത് മുസ്ലിംകളുടെ ഇടയിൽ മാത്രം കണ്ടു വരുന്ന ഒരു ആചാരമല്ല താനും. ചില രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികളും, ജൂതന്മാരും, അനിമിസ്റ്റ് വിഭാഗക്കാരും ഇത് പിന്തുടരാറുണ്ട്. ലോകത്തെ 41 രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ പെൺചേലാകർമ്മം നിയമവിരുദ്ധമാണ് – ഇതിൽ ഈജിപ്തും ചില ആഫ്രിക്കൻരാജ്യങ്ങളും ഉൾപെടും. ഇന്ത്യയിൽ ഇതിനെതിരെ നിലവിൽ ഒരു നിയമങ്ങളും ഇല്ല – എന്നാൽ ഒരു സ്വത്രന്ത്രവക്കീൽ ഇതിനെതിരായി സമർപ്പിച്ച പൊതുതാല്പര്യഹർജി ഇപ്പോൾ സുപ്രീംകോടതിയുടെ പരിഗണയിലുണ്ട്. മെയ് എട്ടാം തീയതി സുപ്രീംകോടതി കേന്ദ്രസർക്കാരിനോടും, നാല് സംസ്ഥാന സർക്കാരുകളോടും ഈ പൊതുതാല്പര്യ ഹർജിയോട് പ്രതികരിക്കാൻ ആവശ്യപെട്ടിട്ടുണ്ട്. മെയ് 29നു, വനിതാശിശുവികസനമന്ത്രാലയം ശ്രീമതി മേനകഗാന്ധിയുടെ നേതൃത്ത്വത്തിൽ, ഇന്ത്യൻ ശിക്ഷാനിയമത്തിന്റെയും Protection of Children from Sexual Offence അഥവാ POSCOയുടെയും കീഴിൽ സ്ത്രീചേലാകർമ്മം സ്വയമേവ നിയമവിരുദ്ധമായി തീരും എന്ന് പ്രസ്താവനയിറക്കി. സഹിയോയെ കുറിച്ച് കൂടുതൽ അറിയാൻ: സഹിയോ; സ്ത്രീ ചേലാകർമ്മം , പെൺസുന്നത്ത്, ഖാറ്റ്നാ എന്നിങ്ങനെയുള്ള FGC ആചാരങ്ങൾ ദക്ഷിണ ഏഷ്യൻ രാജ്യങ്ങളിൽ നിന്ന് തുടച്ചുനീക്കാൻ പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്ന ഒരു സന്നദ്ധസംഘടനയാണ്. നിങ്ങളിൽ ആർക്കെങ്കിലും ഇതിനെ കുറിച്ച് കൂടുതൽ അറിവുണ്ടെങ്കിൽ, അല്ലെങ്കിൽ അറിയാൻ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നെങ്കിൽ ഞങ്ങളുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെടാവുന്നതാണ്. info@sahiyo.com എന്ന അഡ്രസ്സിൽ നിങ്ങൾക്ക് മെയിൽ ചെയ്യാം. വാർത്താമാധ്യമങ്ങളോടുഒരുഅപേക്ഷ പെൺസുന്നത്ത് എന്ന ആചാരം പലർക്കും ഞെട്ടിപ്പിക്കുന്ന ഒരു സത്യം ആണെന്ന് ഞങ്ങൾ മനസ്സിലാക്കുന്നു. ഇത് മീഡിയയിൽ സെൻസേഷൻ ആകാവുന്ന ഒരു വിഷയുമാണ്. എന്നിരുന്നാലും ഇതിനു വിധേയമായ സ്ത്രീകൾക്കും കുട്ടികൾക്കും ഇത് വളരെ വൈകാരികമായ ഒരു വിഷയം ആണെന്ന് കൂടി ഓർക്കേണ്ടതുണ്ട്. ഇതിനാൽ, ഈ വിഷയം കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യാൻ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന മാധ്യമപ്രവർത്തകർ, എഡിറ്റർ, ഫോട്ടോഗ്രാഫർ, ഗ്രാഫിക്ഡിസൈനേഴ്സ്, ബ്ലോഗേഴ്സ് എന്നിവർ സമചിത്തതയോടും സഹാനുഭൂതിയോടും കൂടി വർത്തിക്കണം എന്ന് അപേക്ഷിക്കുന്നു. – ഇതിനു വിധേയയായ സ്ത്രീകളുടെയും പെൺകുട്ടികളുടെയും സ്വകാര്യതയെമാനിക്കുക : പെൺസുന്നത്ത് ഒരു തരത്തിലുള്ള ലിംഗ-വിവേചന അക്രമമാണ്, അതിനാൽ നിങ്ങൾ ഇന്റർവ്യൂ ചെയ്യുന്പോഴും, അവരുടെ വാക്കുകൾ ഉദ്ധരിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്പോൾ അവരുടെ പേരോ മറ്റു വിവരങ്ങളോ , അവരുടെ പൂർണ്ണസമ്മതത്തോടെയല്ലാതെ പുറത്ത് വിടരുത്. അവരെ “ഇര” “അതിജീവിച്ചവൾ” അതോ മറ്റുവല്ല വാക്കുകളാൽ സംബോധന ചെയ്യാമോ എന്ന് അവരോട് തന്നെ ചോദിച്ച് ഉറപ്പ് വരുത്തുക. – ഛേദം പ്രതി മുറിക്കൽ: FGC എന്നത് പലപ്പോഴും FGM അഥവാ Female Genital Mutilation എന്ന് വിളിച്ച് കാണാറുണ്ട്. Mutilation അഥവാ ഛേദം എന്ന വാക്കു ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നതിനെ കുറിച്ച് ആചാരമനുഷ്ഠിക്കുന്നവരുടെ ഇടയിൽ തർക്കങ്ങളുണ്ട് . അവരതിന് പറയുന്ന കാരണങ്ങൾ ഛേദം എന്ന വാക്കിനു ഒരു വിപരീതലക്ഷ്യാർത്ഥം ഉണ്ടെന്നും ആരും അവരുടെ പെണ്മക്കളെ വികലമാക്കണം എന്ന ഉദ്ദേശത്തോടു കൂടി ഇത് ചെയ്യാറില്ല എന്നും പറയുന്നു. സാമൂഹികവും, മതപരവും, സാമുദായികവുമായ കാരണങ്ങൾ കൊണ്ടാണ് ഈ ആചാരം അനുഷ്ടിക്കപെടുന്നത്. ലോകമെന്പാടുമുള്ള സാമൂഹികപ്രവർത്തകർ Female Genital Cutting എന്ന പദം ഉപയോഗിക്കാനാണ് താത്പര്യപെടുന്നത്- ലോകാരോഗ്യസംഘടന ഇത് ശരിവെക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു. – അതിവൈകാരികമായ ഭാഷയും ചിത്രങ്ങളും ഉപയോഗിക്കാതിരിക്കുക: “അപരിഷ്കൃതം” “ദാരുണം” “ഗോത്രീയം” എന്നിങ്ങനെയുള്ള പദങ്ങൾ പെൺസുന്നത്തിനെ കുറിച്ച് എഴുതുന്പോൾ ഉപയോഗിക്കാതിരിക്കാൻ ശ്രധ്ധിക്കുക. സുന്നത്തിനു വിധേയരായ സ്ത്രീകൾക്ക് ഇത് അരോചകമായിതോന്നിയേക്കും. ഇത്തരം പദപ്രയോഗങ്ങൾ അവരെ സമൂഹത്തിൽ നിന്നും ഒറ്റപ്പെടുത്തുകയും അവർക്ക് ഒരു തിരിച്ച് വരവ് ദുസ്സഹമാവുകയും ചെയ്യും. ചോര ഇറ്റി വീഴുന്ന ബ്ലേഡ്, കരയുന്ന കുഞ്ഞുങ്ങൾ, ബലമായി വിടർത്തി പിടിച്ച കാലുകൾ, പൊത്തി പിടിച്ച
FGM before the Indian Supreme Court
By: Koen Van den Brande Age: 55Country: India It was to be expected… The Indian Supreme Court has been asked to look at the practice of ‘khatna’ – commonly known as FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) as a result of a Public Interest Litigation filed by Sunita Tiwari, a Delhi based advocate. There was a time, not so long ago, when the Suleimani community was known for people who showed great wisdom and leadership. For example when the educator, jurist and author Asaf Ali Asghar Fyzee advocated “the need to incorporate modern reforms in Islamic law without compromising on the ‘essential spirit of Islam’.” FGM has been in the news of late in India as well as the US, the UK and Australia, as a result of legal action taken against practitioners of ‘khatna’ and discussions on how to make existing legislation more effective. In the Mumbai-based Suleimani community, which I belong to, we have also been having some discussions on how to address this practice, which remains prevalent albeit more and more in what I would call an ‘intellectualised’ form. After all, we are not talking here about primitive tribal communities as in some countries in Africa, where in 10% of the cases, we can talk about ‘mutilation’ in the fullest, most horrific, sense. The community is well accustomed with the Islamic principle that the law of the land is to be respected. In the Prophet’s (PBUH) words ’Love of one’s country is a part of one’s faith” So at one level, the introduction of a new law would be the easiest way to address the issue… Or would it? In the UK such a law has been on the statute books for many years without ever leading to a single case in court and yet it is well-known that the practice continues there for thousands of girls. Or take the case of Egypt, where despite a law which declares the practice a crime, 98% of women continue to be cut. As an Egyptian government official comments in the highly informative as well as emotional documentary The Cutting Tradition, soberly narrated by Meryl Streep, you cannot put the entire population of a country in jail… A study in Senegal concluded that the introduction of specific legislation can be helpful, where it complements other efforts to educate and gain support for abandoning such a practice. However the study also observed that such legislation without the necessary work on the ground can build resistance if it is primarily seen as interference in a religious practice. In India there is no lack of existing legislation under which FGM would be seen as a criminal offence, as Maneka Gandhi, Minister for Women and Child Development recently spelled out in no uncertain terms, in response to a referral by the Supreme Court. In addition, supra-national bodies like the United Nations and the World Health Organisation take a clear stand on the subject. India is a signatory to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but it was not even on the radar of the UN until a group of women submitted a petition to recognise India as one of the countries where FGM is still practiced… In India there is the additional problem that the Muslim minority is always likely to find a new law addressing ‘khatna’, considered by some a ‘religious practice’, an imposition by a Hindu-dominated government – even if the law makes perfect sense. Such resentment could result in the practice being driven underground and once again reverting to the earlier back-alley horrors, which so many women have attested to. In fact, following the successful efforts of Sahiyo and others, a new site has recently been set up protesting ‘interference’, as expected. It would of course be much better if the two sides agreed to sit together to work out a sensible way forward. Sunita Tiwari is quite clear. She wants ‘khatna’ to be made an offence which is ‘cognizable, non-compoundable and non-bailable and offenders to get maximum punishment and penalty’. In reality, and for many Suleimani families today, ‘khatna’ has become what a father of two daughters called ‘a minor procedure’, when I asked him about it. That is to say that the ‘intellectualised’ form of the practice already insists on a medical procedure which simply removes a small bit of skin — the clitoral hood. Such a procedure may be justified and carried out legitimately to assist a grown-up woman. Which still leaves the question how one can justify making that decision for a child. As a result of my initial conversations and a bit of research, I wrote an article a while back in which I advocated a possible approach which would respect the view of those who consider this a spiritual matter and the rest of us. I believe this approach would also address the urgent need for reform and recognise that a large majority of the world has deemed this practice, for some time already, a crime against a girl child. What I proposed was that the community leaders could simply teach and mandate that a woman had to be of the age of consent to allow what should then be a largely symbolic ‘cut’ and that it should always be performed under medical supervision. At least one of the Bohra community’s spiritual leaders seems to have taken a similar view. He was reported in the media recently as saying ‘FGM should be by choice for adults’. Unfortunately this statement has become somewhat ‘politicised’ due to the succession struggle which is currently before the court in Mumbai. This proposed approach would also address another ‘law’. It could help resolve the current dilemma for any medical practitioner who would prefer not to break his or her Hippocratic oath. This oath – ‘do no harm’ – insists that a doctor can only perform a procedure on a patient which is actually in that patient’s interest. It must be difficult for any doctor to argue that ‘khatna’ is
Despite backlash, Sahiyo will continue to work with the community
The World Health Organization (WHO)’s guidelines on the management of health complications from female genital mutilation/cutting states that the “involvement of health-care providers in performing FGM is likely to confer a sense of legitimacy on the practice and could give the impression that the procedure is good for women’s health, or at least that it is harmless.” Unfortunately, this is exactly what is happening in India. It is difficult to rationalize how a medical professional who has taken a Hippocratic Oath to “…abstain from all intentional wrongdoing and harm, especially from abusing the bodies of man or woman, bond or free,” can promote khatna in India. In one part of the world doctors from our community are tried for violating the laws of their country (United States and Australia), and then we have doctors in India who are using the argument of religious freedom to advocate for a practice that is performed for non-medical reasons on a non-consenting minor girl. We have seen letters issued by various jamaats across the world, who use the hadeeth: حُبُّ الْوَطَنِ مِنَ الإِيمَانِ (Hubbul-Watan Min al-Eemaan), which translates to “Love of one’s homeland (country) is from faith”, to denounce the practice. Contrary to this, we have supporters of khatna, in India, who wish to continue with the archaic custom, despite the Indian government taking a stand and stating laws, the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act, against the practice. These are inconsistencies and we question them. Opposition to khatna is not at all unexpected. We had anticipated it, at some level, looked forward to being able to engage in a healthy exchange of views on a democratic platform. Unfortunately, in the last week, the premise of the opposition we have heard is based on half-truths. The fact that such strong opposition exists shows that our efforts to engage the community have led people to discuss the matter and question the practice. Sahiyo will continue to work with the community to bring an end to the practice in a proactive way. We add that that this practice is not only continued by Dawoodi Bohras. There are those from other South Asian communities who have spoken out against it too. Sahiyo focuses on engaging these communities, as well, but clearly, the largest group Sahiyo continues to engage is the Dawoodi Bohra community. We draw strength from knowing the high levels of education of women within the Dawoodi Bohras and are very hopeful that with a healthy dialogue we can re-evaluate this practice in the present day and come up with a solution that is in the best interests of all children and women. Last but not least, we would like to say that Sahiyo is saddened to be a target of deliberate slander, especially when the messages being passed around on WhatsApp and other social media platforms are blatantly untrue. To clarify a few doubts – Sahiyo has not started a petition addressed to the Syedna and we have not filed the PIL to ban khatna in India, either. We are only trying to engage with the community to break the silence around a practice we see as a violation of child rights and human rights. We are trying to ensure that the community is able to take an informed view on a rite of passage that can be, and sometimes is, harmful to children. We have always welcomed healthy discussion and now, more than ever, we think it is critical to be able to engage in a mature conversation on the subject. This is what we are trying to do through our advocacy campaign, Each One Reach One 2 that has been jointly launched with WeSpeakOut this Ramzan. The campaign will create means of effective communication to discuss the subject of khatna amongst various stakeholders. We hope that our brothers and sisters are able to use these and debate the issue to be able to understand the long-term and short-term pros and cons of this practice, rather than let emotion and religion alone influence their decision-making.
The Detroit doctor arrests are an opportunity to talk about Khatna
By: Anonymous Age: 33Country: Pune, India Even though I clearly remember when ‘khatna’ was performed on me, it wasn’t until I was a teenager that I first started to question this practice within the Dawoodi Bohra community. It always felt wrong, but if my mother, sister, and seemingly everyone else in the community embraced it, who was I to question? I had been an obedient little Bohra girl – attending the mosque, fasting, and doing everything exactly as it was expected of me. As I reached my teens, however, the restrictions I had as a Bohra woman grew ever more oppressive. My curiosity led me to start looking for any information I could find about ‘khatna’ – but to be honest I didn’t even know what to type into Google! When I finally figured it out, gory pictures of female genital mutilation in Africa filled my computer screen, but there was little or no information about it being practiced within the Bohra community. Talking about it within the community was obviously taboo, but I did have a college friend, a Bohra girl my age, who I confided in. “I think we may have some problems when we grow up, and we may never be able to enjoy sex,” she said. That was the limit of her knowledge and she was as confused as I was. My anger continued to grow – many rules within the community, especially for women, were illogical, outdated and absolutely unnecessary. And ‘khatna’ was the cruelest of them all. More than my own experience, the hardest time for me was when my older sister’s daughter turned seven (the age when ‘khatna’ is performed), and it was clear that my sister and mother were planning to continue the tradition. I felt helpless and hopeless seeing my little niece in fear. Seeing her in pain the night after she was cut saddened me to the core. This cruel ritual was so deeply rooted in religious and cultural beliefs that it would be very difficult to break. If any change had to happen, it had to happen from within the community – but how, when no one was even willing to talk about it? As news about the three doctors getting arrested for performing ‘khatna’ on young girls in the US spreads far and wide, it becomes urgent and extremely important for us within the community to talk about it. I am sure that there isn’t a single woman in the community who hasn’t questioned this practice at one time or another. After all, how can a mother willingly subject her daughter to this torture? Instead of hiding our heads in the sand and pretending that what is happening in Michigan does not concern us, we need to use this opportunity to talk and question. Having grown up in the community, I completely understand the nuances of this problem – no Bohra wants to talk about it because it involves a private part, a sexual organ of a woman, and talking about sex is taboo. But we can get together in small groups of family and friends to reexamine this outdated ritual. There are now non-profit organizations, like Sahiyo, committed to creating awareness and educating the community. There is enough scientific data to prove that there is nothing beneficial about this ritual. Those of us that feel strongly need to find avenues to share our experiences, whether it is through schools and colleges, other community organizations, or signing petitions. We need to voice our anger with a system that threatens its people and brainwashes them to believe that gruesome acts like ‘khatna’ are for their betterment. I have so many Bohra friends across the world who have little girls and others who will have children in the near future. Of course, they love their daughters, and would rather not subject them to this cruelty, but the pressure to conform is stifling and very few have the power to stand up to it. Our right to think independently has been stripped away from us, and we don’t dare to question our religious leaders. Every single day, several girls suffer this torture all over the world – and it affects their lives forever. Time is passing quickly, and we need to rise up and demand that community leaders put an end to this practice NOW. This article was translated in Gujarati on January 16, 2018. Read the translation here.
A letter to Syedna, by a Bohra woman
(Editor’s note – The courageous woman who shared this letter would like it to be known that sahiyo’s platform was the official outlet for her letter.) By: Anonymous Country of Residence: United States To Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, We are the ones who showed up. We are the ones who wore the right thing, said the right thing, didn’t ask too many questions. When you became our 53rd leader, we changed our license plates and phone numbers to include the number 53 in your honor. We came to you in our moments of deep grief and our moments of sweet joy to ask for your permission to bury a loved one, get married, move to another country. We parted with our money in Dawoodi Bohra taxes to benefit you and our community. We put photos of you up on our walls. We traveled to Texas, Nairobi, Mumbai to hear your sermons. We prayed to you and for you. We did all of this in the name of the community, in the name of feeling supported by the ballast of history. We trusted your goodness, your wisdom. We believed that when we called to you for help, you would come. Last year, on Syedna Taher Saifuddin’s death anniversary – a day when you knew that people around the world were watching – you spoke out about “keep[ing] our things strong, stay[ing[ firm. Even the big sovereign states [i.e. United States], whatever it is they say, if it makes any difference to our things, then we are not prepared to understand!…The act has to happen! If it is a man, then it is right, it can be openly done, but if it is a woman then it must be done discreetly, but then the act has to be done. Please understand what I am trying to talk about…” We understood; we all knew what you were talking about. You were speaking about khatna, a globally reviled practice in which someone cuts part of a girl’s clitoris. You instructed us to carry out khatna on our young girls regardless of what the “big sovereign states” (read: US law) had to say. One month later, US-based jamaats published letters stating that community members should follow the law and not practice khatna in the US. These letters didn’t say that khatna was inherently wrong; they impliedly encouraged us to travel elsewhere for the procedure. We were confused – how could we not be? But we kept our heads down. We did not understand or agree with this practice, but we believed in you. Khatna has gone global – The New York Times, the BBC, Al Jazeera, UK Parliament – are associating the Dawoodi Bohra community with this heinous act, accurately reporting on a procedure that has abused and denigrated our women. In encouraging this procedure, you sanctioned violence against young children. And now here we are. April 2017. Dr. Jumana Nagarwala committed a crime in flagrant disobedience of her role as a healer and doctor. But we can’t place the blame entirely on Dr. Nagarwala. She didn’t come up with this idea. She did it for you, in your name, under your instruction. On April 26, 2017, a federal jury indicted Dr. Nagarwala, Fakhruddin Attar and Farida Attar. Your followers are in hot water now and what did you do? You washed your hands of them. Less than a year after your pronouncement that you were “not prepared to understand” what “big sovereign states” say, you swiftly worked to ally yourself with US law enforcement. You issued a statement saying it was “unfortunate” Dr. Nagarwala had not followed US law, that the Dawoodi Bohras do not support any violation of local, state or federal law. So much for staying “staying firm.” You threw Dr. Nagarwala under the bus and bailed. So now we know. We know that it doesn’t matter how much we gave and prayed and observed. We know that even if we show up and wear what you want, say what you want, do what you want, you won’t show up for us when it matters. You will not take responsibility for your actions. You will not stand by your followers. I will continue to go to the jamaat and pray alongside my fellow Bohra women. I do this now only for the love of my family, for the peace that this brings them, for the Allah who sees everything we do – including you, Syedna. But I do not believe in your wisdom and power anymore. I have lost all faith in your goodness, your grace. I will not listen to your edicts about what I should wear, how I should educate my children, how I should live my life. You took no responsibility for your follower who carried out your instructions – a mother of four who is now facing jail time. You abandoned her when she needed you most. You would do the same to me and my family. I know that when the reckoning comes, you will not stand by me, and so I will not stand by you anymore. This blog was later published in Gujarati. Read the Gujarati version here.
We must find culturally sensitive methods to end FGC and protect girls from further trauma
Picture an innocent, 7-year-old girl being led to an unfamiliar room. She is made to lie down, her underpants are removed, and a piece of her is cut away; familiar hands around her upholding an age-old tradition. Perhaps she is in pain. Perhaps she is not. She might feel betrayed, scared, angry, or upset. She might want to run away from the people who are albeit familiar to her, but who have put her in an extremely traumatic situation. Now picture this same girl once again, made to lie in a an equally unfamiliar room, her underpants removed, her private parts probed by a doctor, who is looking for the scar from the piece that was cut away from her; these concerned hands are trying to build a case to condemn the ones who caused her the original pain. The girl is once again in pain, but this time it may not be just a physical pain. She is again angry, scared, and confused. And this time, she probably wants to run back to those who are familiar to her, to save her from the trauma of reliving that memory. The above two scenarios sadly highlight the unfortunate situation that innocent Bohra girls in the US are reportedly in. The girls are possibly feeling trapped, fearful, and vulnerable, because once again they are being forced to relive their trauma of undergoing Khatna. Recently, Female Genital Cutting or Khatna prevalent in the Dawoodi Bohra community came onto the federal radar in the US because of the arrest of a doctor associated with the practice in Detroit, Michigan. This arrest was followed by a few more arrests leading to subsequent intervention by Michigan’s Child Protection Services who reportedly picked up children for further questioning. While we need law to make clear that FGC is a human rights violation, and we need legal aid to further efforts towards preventing FGC from occurring in the first place, subjecting a child to a double scrutiny of sorts may not be the best practice if we keep the interests of the child in mind. For instance, one has to understand that Bohra-style Khatna can be difficult to establish in a medical examination, because Type 1 or Type 4 (which Bohras typically perform) do not necessarily leave physical scars. The girl may have lost a thin layer of her prepuce, or she may have been pricked, slit or rubbed, in which case subjecting them to medical check-ups is not going to prove anything, and may, in fact, cause them trauma when previously they may not have been particularly traumatized. Additionally, carrying out a witch hunt on all the mothers, possibly separating the girls from their parents, and asking for a ‘permanent termination’ of rights to parenting, are all methods that might force the Dawoodi Bohra community into believing that they are being targeted unfairly, and these actions might make them distrustful of law enforcement officials. Moreover, the child might view the authorities trying to protect her as her worst enemy, because they separated her from her parents and everything that is comfortable and familiar to her. She might also feel pangs of guilt if her testimony leads to her mother’s arrest. After all, no child wants to be the reason for a family’s disruption. There is no doubt that the US government is doing exceptionally well in investigating the case, and ensuring that the laws of their land are rightfully upheld. Nevertheless, Sahiyo does feel that there are certain realities, which if understood and implemented correctly, could make the process of serving justice less painful for the child. For instance, what could be explored is how to gain insight around culturally appropriate and sensitive forms of outreach from the people and agencies who are knowledgeable in working with the community. Since its inception, Sahiyo’s philosophy has been to engage the members of the community and seek their help to end this harmful practice. So we ask now, could an alternate approach be found that acknowledges Khatna as a harmful tradition that must be discontinued, but simultaneously recognizes that parents’ intentions for continuing it are not necessarily malicious? Or, could there be a more educative, community-involved approach to tackling FGC which recognizes it as a social norm that unfortunately has been passed down through generations of a community? Could state-organized counseling sessions for the parents and children be an alternative to punitive punishments? We ask these questions because we acknowledge that to truly end FGC in the Dawoodi Bohra community, we must find methods that will not cause further trauma for the child, but at the same time, continue to move the community forward towards abandoning this undesirable and harmful practice.
Law alone cannot end the practice of Female Genital Cutting
By Sabiha Basrai Country: California, United StatesAge: 34 years old It is important that the issue of FGC or Khatna, as known to the Bohra community, is brought out from the shadows and discussed openly. Many people do not understand how brutal the practice is and simply prefer not to discuss it because of the entrenched shame around women’s sexuality and reproductive health that is enforced through patriarchal social structures. I hope that the Detroit case in which a Bohra medical doctor was arrested on charges of performing FGC on minor girls, encourages more families to say no to the practice so that future generations of young girls will be shared. This harmful practice is not an issue of being religious or not religious. Neither is it an issue of right and wrong. Khatna is just wrong. The Detroit case does, however, raise concerns about the surveillance of Muslim Americans. Our mosques and community centers are already targeted by law enforcement who racially profile us and infringe upon our civil rights. It is important that all Bohras understand that law enforcement does not necessarily have our best interests in mind and could exploit the issue of Khatna to justify further harassment and surveillance of our communities. Khatna should end, but I believe the practice will only truly end through community education and organizing within the jamaats (Bohra congregations). None of us want to see violence occur in our communities, but we must be conscious that law alone is not the answer, and in some instances, the negative action of some law enforcement officials have been detrimental to the safety and security in our communities. Therefore, I caution all Bohras living in America to never speak to law enforcement without a lawyer present. And, I encourage Bohras to also find ways to work within the community to end harmful practices such as Khatna. This post was later translated in Gujarati. Read the Gujarati translation here.