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Wednesday, 06 April 2005
The sixth General Assembly of the Inter-African
Committee on Traditional Practices (IAC) was held in Bamako, Mali from the 4th
to the 7th of April 2005.
National committees of
the IAC from more than 28 African countries in the African region as well as
IAC group sections, affiliates, partners, human rights organizations, donors
and representatives from UN specialized agencies and the Economic Commission
for Africa [met to review progress, assess constraints and identify
opportunities for strengthening campaigns against harmful traditional practices
particularly female genital mutilation.
… An issue of concern at
the 6th General Assembly … have been attempts to dilute the terminology Female
Genital Mutilation (FGM) and replace it with the following: “Female
Circumcision,” "Female Genital Alteration,” "Female Genital
Excision," "Female Genital Surgery," and more recently “Female
Genital Cutting" (FGC). …Female Genital Cutting (FGC) does not reflect the
accurate extent of harm and mutilation caused by all types of FGM. This
terminology has been adopted by some UN specialized agencies and bi-lateral
donors … influenced by specific lobby groups largely based in western
countries.
…These changes trivialize the nature of female
genital mutilation and the suffering of African women and girls …[and] … made
without consultation, [they] override the consensus reached by African women in
the front line of the campaign as well as the … millions of African girls and
women who suffer in silence. We want the world to know that in 1990 African
women [activists] adopted the term FGM at the IAC General Assembly in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia. They took this brave step to confront the issue head on
with their practicing communities. [Why? To avoid confusion, to emphasize] the
nature and gravity of the practice; to recognize that [only] a [continuing and
painful] struggle [can alter] the mentality and behaviours of African people,
[yet to insist] that this pain [is] integral to [empower] girls and women … to
address FGM [and to take] control of their sexuality and reproductive rights. …
Experience indicates that long-term change occurs [only] when change agents help
communities to go through this painful process. Not to confront the issue
is to [promote] denial of the gravity of FGM, thus resulting in mere transient
change… .
We recognize that while it may be less threatening for non-Africans to adopt
other less confrontational terminology in order to enter into dialogue with
communities, it is imperative that the term FGM [be] retained. The
term FGM is not judgmental. It is instead a medical term that reflects what is
done to the genitalia of girls and women. It is a cultural reality. Mutilation
is the removal of healthy tissue. The fact that the term makes some people
uneasy is no justification for its abandonment.
We would highlight that … FGM was adopted [by] consultation and consensus
[among …] African experts [at] the first technical working group meeting held
in Geneva in 1995 and gained … world-wide currency and acceptance. The
Beijing conference also adopted and used … female genital mutilation. …
FGM has been adopted and endorsed by the European Union [and] the African
Union; [it] is currently utilized in all their documentation including the most
recent Additional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
on the Rights of Women [Maputo].
While we appreciate the efforts made in response to FGM on the continent and
the Diaspora, it is patronizing and belittling to
African women and girls to have outsiders define their oppression. Indeed what gives anyone but Africans the right to
change a term agreed upon by the largest group of African activists on this
issue in the world? This is at best paternalism and is a sad reflection
of how, after many years of African women working against FGM … when FGM was a
taboo, the campaign has been high-jacked by others … not involved at the
beginning and who do not appreciate the nature of the struggle.
We, the participants at the 6th IAC General Assembly,
demand a halt to this drift towards trivializing the traditional practice by
adopting a subtle terminology.
We demand that all organizations and international bodies revert
to the terminology adopted by the IAC in 1990, and reinforced in 2002.
We demand that international agencies recognize the right of NGO’s
in the field to continue to use FGM and not to be denied funding because of
this.
We demand that the voices of African women be heard and that their
call to action against FGM [be] heeded.