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OpEdNews Op Eds    H4'ed 7/2/15

Good News for Nigerian Girls

Message Suzana Megles
Girls in Nigeria will be saved from genital mutilation.
Girls in Nigeria will be saved from genital mutilation.
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Yesterday I read this wonderful news on TakePart- "As He Leaves Office, Nigerian President's Parting Gift a lifesaver for Girls." Could it be the
ending of genital mutilation? Yes, that's exactly what it is. I am so happy for those Nigerian girls who will now be spared this cruel and unnecessary invasive procedure. And God bless outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan for this compassionate stance- even though it should have been done earlier in his term as president.
The ending of genital mutilation was one of my daily prayer petitions. I simply could not wrap my head around anyone doing this to young, innocent girls. Sadly, though-this petition will have to stay on my prayer list. There are other nations who will continue to mutilate their girls with genital cutting.
I remember seeing a Nicholas Kistof video about this procedure and he described for us on camera what was going on behind closed doors to one poor young victim. We know that she was being held down while the cutting was done by a woman wielding a knife. Who would ever be willing to perform this cruel "surgery?" Maybe those who do feel it would be better done by a woman than a man.
I don't remember if we heard the victim's most certain painful screams, but I knew that she certainly must have screamed at the top of her lungs since there was no anesthesia or drugs being used to to help numb her from what must have been excruciating pain. What amazes me most is that this is still happening in the 21st century.
I never knew exactly why this horrible practice was being done in the first place but TakePart's News Editor Shaya Tayefe Mohajer did and said that "Female genital mutilation, ....is a difficult custom to curb in the communities where it still flourishes. It's advocates believe the procedure helps future husbands control women, reducing their sexual appetite
and makes them more docile and marriageable."
How terribly, terribly sad and unjust. It's all about the man's needs and no concern whatever of the woman's. Even though the United Nations passed a resolution in December 2012 for member nations to ban the practice, she notes that attitudes shift more slowly than law.
In some states in Nigeria the UN estimates that about 25 percent of girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 have undergone genital cutting. But Mohajer reports that it is even more pervasive in Guinea, Egypt, and Somalia where more than 90 percent of girls and women undergo genital cutting. For people of prayer, please join me in prayer that one day this
horror will completely stop.
I've often wondered why Africa and some countries in the Middle East where this patriarchal culture exists are so backward. And Mohajer points out that it is the belief of activists that the FGM cutlure which oppresses women has kept economic growth back as well. This makes sense to me. Only when education and freedom for women and girls in developing societies are closely linked will there ever be growth and prosperity in the countries which so long have denied women their rights.

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I have been concerned about animal suffering ever since
I received my first puppy Peaches in 1975. She made me take a good look at the animal kingdom and I was shocked to see how badly we treat so many animals. At 77, I've been a vegan for the (more...)
 
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