FGM/C in Egypt Today: Activities, Challenges and Future Directions

Objectives
To reflect on efforts to abandon FGM/C in the Egyptian arena, to communicate project updates, share information, identify current challenges, lessons learned, future directions, and to create a space for all those interested in the issue of FGM/C to communicate ideas.

Meeting Summary
Media, sexuality and the nature of FGM/C messages constituted the main themes of the meeting. Attendees provided descriptions of current involvement in FGC abandonment projects and activities, and identified challenges such as communicating information with the media and networking. The group decided to meet every other month to update and share information.

Attendees
1. Moderator: Dr. Marie Assaad, Egypt FGM Task Force Coordinator
2. Ms. Simona Galbiati, Program Officer, UNDP
3. Ms. Nehad Abul Komsan, Executive Director, Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights
4. Ms. Abeer Khamis, Trainer, ECWR
5. Dr. Barbara Ibrahim, Regional Director West Asia and North Africa, Population Council
6. Ms. Maggie Morgan, Producer, MediaHouse
7. Ms. Riham Shebl, Independent Activist and Researcher
8. Dr. Mowaheb el-Moelhi, NGO Sector Specialist TAHSEEN
9. Dr. Viviane Fahmy, Training Coordinator, NCCM Free Village Model
10.Dr. Magdy Helmy, Health Program Officer, CARITAS – NCCM FGM Free Village Model NGO coordinator
11.Ms. Mona Bur, Program Assistant, Population Council/INTACT

Introduction
· Dr. Marie Assaad commenced by presenting a brief history on the FGM Task Force of Egypt as a movement, and reviewing the objectives of the meeting.
· Ms. Bur provided a brief introduction to the development and activities of the INTACT Network, an international network of researchers, activists and scholars that aims to promote research on the effects of FGM/C, based in the Cairo office of the Population Council. Current membership is composed of 213 individuals, majority based in Egypt (40 members). Activities are mainly communicated through Intact’s website that now contains an Arabic version. The INTACT network welcomes ideas on how to expand its services to communicate FGM/C information.
o Issue was raised on how the INTACT Network can communicate information to target focal points without email access.

1. Ms. Riham Shebl, Independent Researcher and Activist
· Ms Shebl traces her involvement with the issue to 1996, namely during a course on Gender and Literature (reading literary texts from a gender sensitive perspective) by Prof. Ferial Ghazoul at the American University in Cairo, to which the topic of FGM/C was addressed. Dr. Assaad attended the same lecture as a guest speaker, as well as Ms. Morgan of MediaHouse.
· Following the session, Ms. Morgan worked with Ms. Shebl to produce a documentary titled Reham’s Story, which deals with FGM/C from the personal perspective of an Egyptian woman telling her own tale.
· Following the release of the documentary, Ms. Shebl became engaged in face-to-face communication pertaining to FGM/C, discussing the issue in the metro, in slum areas with other women, and family members. “The feminist approach is not to prop oneself up as an enemy against other another woman,” she adds.
· Recently, Ms. Shebl lectured at a private school in Cairo, hosting a model on the United Nations, to an audience of 15-17 year old adolescents. Following an invitation to discuss the development of women’s issues, Ms. Shebl decided to focus on FGM. The lecture commenced with a reading of an Alifa Rifaat novella, “Placing it in a larger framework of the different ways that society uses/curbs female sexuality,” she adds. Ms. Shebl reports both lectures as very successful. Male students also noted that men should be targeted in the campaign. A Jordanian student has also followed up with Ms. Shebl for a term paper on FGM/C as related to honor killings.

Challenges
Media and Slander
· Five months ago, an article appeared titled Riham’s Story in the debut issue of Nahdit Masr, in which the author accuses MediaHouse as a Christian missionary project attempting to advocate against FGM/C, and slandered the activities of Ms. Shebl and MediaHouse. (The author continued to slander MediaHouse’s second documentary on FGM/C; The Season of Planting Girls, directed by Viola Shafik, summarizing it as a tale of “An educated researcher who went to the village to convince women to talk about their private parts.” He continued to describe Ms. Shebl as manipulated and brainwashed by her education at AUC. Ms. Shebl was further denied access to the editor-in-chief of Nahdit Masr. MediaHouse consulted a lawyer, who advised to let it the problem pass unless it arises again.

Recommendation for follow-up:
More research on the role of the media in the campaign against FGM/C.

2. Dr. Mowaheb El-Moelhi, NGO Sector Specialist, TAHSEEN Project.
· FGM/C is currently part of all activities related to family planning, and reproductive health programs at Tahseen, such as the Raidat, and its health curriculum. Tahseen continues to work closely with NGOs who are fighting against the procedure.
· Dr. El-Molh stressed face-to-face communication as a very important method of sharing information pertaining to family planning and RH issues.
· Dr. El-Molh added that there will be indicators on the progress of the Tahseen program, but not particularly on FGM/C

3. Ms. Maggie Morgan, Producer, MediaHouse
· MediaHouse is a private company interested in development issues communicated through film, such as children of special needs, FGM/C, children’s rights, and violence against women (VAW). Previous activities included a media watch on how many times woman are beaten during Ramadan television series, done in collaboration with New Woman Foundation.
· FGM is high on MediaHouses’ priority list. Two documentaries focusing on FGM/C have been produced; Viola Shafik’s Season of Planting Girls (with Dr. Seham Abdel Selam), and Riham’s Story (with Ms. Riham Shebl).
· MediaHouse have very recently produced 13 short films on children (nutrition, early marriage), two are focused FGM/C. Each are twenty-minutes in length. The first documentary is on success stories in Minya, and pays attention to the first generation of girls who are not circumcized. The second is in collaboration with COST in Beni Suef, namely in Ezbet Guirgus, and documents testimonies on FGM/C.
· Ms. Morgan also notes that it is very encouraging to see the Egyptian media involved in the issue of FGM/C, since at the time of producing the first two documentaries, it was quite difficult to see social messages against FGM/C on television (and popular cinema- with the release of films such as Asrar al-Banat and el-Naama Wel Tawous).

Side Notes and Group Debate
o It is important to integrate all topics related to FGM/C. Face-to-Face communication and media exposure. Creating the socio-cultural atmosphere daring to say no while others in the community are still saying yes.
o The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) has maintained a role of advocating against FGM/C in the national media campaign against FGM/C.

Challenges
· Disseminating films to NGOs and organizations working in the field
· Creating a better distribution network (attention is given not to distribute to Arab satellite stations, in order to avoid the risk of airing dirty laundry).

4. Dr. Barbara Ibrahim, Regional Director, Population Council, West Asia/North Africa, Intact Network Founding Member
· Gender and sexuality is underlying the practice of FGM/C, stated Dr. Barbara. Once the practice is stigmatized as negative or bad, we are stigmatizing thousands of women who had no choice. Researchers should learn much more about their experience, and need to be sure that in eliminating the practice, one does not harm the generation of women who have already been subjected to the procedure, she adds.
· The INTACT Network is organizing a research seminar in the Fall of 2004, to bring together all our expertise to tell us what we have learnt about this issue, and of FGM/C and its effects on male/female sexuality, and hopes to draw on this group for the program design, contact information and other recommendations.
· Previous research conducted that touch upon the issue include Nahla Abdel Tawab study titled Integrating Issues of Sexuality into Egyptian Family Planning Counseling, and Nadia Wassef/Abdullah Mansour study titled Investigating Masculinities and Female Genital Mutilation in Egypt (the meeting would like to look at the suggestions made in the report).

5. Ms. Abeer Khamis, Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights
· ECWR is currently conducting a program that involved advocacy against FGM and early marriage in Giza.
· Some challenges include the issue of FGM/C messages; some people are still not convinced, even though awareness is high. Some girls wish for early marriage, and have misconceptions.
· The ECWR is trying to develop the concept further, and thinking deeper of how ideas are communicated, with attention to the socio-psychological effects of FGM/C.

Side Notes
o Recommendation: Organizing a conference with the donor community that focuses on the links between FGM/C and the sharia law.

6. Ms. Nehad Abul-Komsan, Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR)
· ECWR was founded in 1996 with a group of 6 young women in Dar El-Salam. Membership of the ECWR is now composed of more than 60 individuals. Efforts focused on the legal rights of women, and involved FGM/C in its agenda.
· Programs targeted legal aid for women, and dealt with the community as a whole from the perspective of empowerment, not service-delivery. Programs offered training of field-coordinators and teachers of adult education, and dealt with the issue of FGM/C through a legal lens and human rights perspective. Current program is titled East Africa for Four Literacies; Body, Rights, Economy and Civil Literacies, in partnership with WOMANKIND, a UK-based NGO, working with five countries.
· ECWR networks with over 600 NGOs, and is also involved with issues pertaining to the political involvement of women in Egypt (supporting women to become members of parliament, and working with political parties).
· ECWR has earned two awards from Development Marketplace (succeeded as one of the ten-best programs in the world) and Equality Now.
· Future activities include a short film about FGM/C, focusing on education as an approach to eliminate FGM/C and early marriage. ECWR is still looking for a partner in the project to move forward.

7. Ms. Simona Galbiati, Program Officer, UNDP
· Current FGM/C project is conducted in collaboration with NCCM, in which different donors are brought together, aiming to liberate villages from FGM/C in six governorates. Project is currently based in NCCM.
· Project tackles FGM/C from different perspectives: the legal, medical, social and religious.
· There is a lot of material that can be shared, specifically with regards to the media campaign used to mobilize communities to think about the issue. The project has produced three television spots, two have been aired on local Egyptian channels. The first tackles FGM/C in the context of three main messages; girls right of education, no to early marriage and no to FGM/C. The second includes the same girl child who meets a priest, shiekh and doctor.
· Ms. Galbiati offered copies of the media spots for distribution. Intact offered to post the media spot on its website.
· Third media spot is also about FGM/C. Titled Think Twice, it also related to social advertising, aiming to integrate media campaigns with community initiatives. To use different tools to promote different social issues. To make people think twice about issues they would normally not talk about (FGM/C and child labor for example).

8. Dr. Magdy Helmy, Health Program Director, CARITAS Egypt/FGM Free Village NGO Coordinator
· As one of the founders of the Egypt FGM Task Force, Dr. Helmy has managed to follow the campaign to abandon the practice for 15 years. He has worked and participated with different NGOs and agencies, and is involved with the NCCM FGM Free Village Model.
· Main components of the project include:
o 1. Fieldwork: Efforts in 60 villages in 6 governorates, with 2 NGOs in each governorate. There is a possibility for the number of villages to reach 100 in the next year. There is certainly progress following a year.
Challenges include: Within the NGO community itself, to understand issues of networking, Other problems include NGO capacity, as not all NGOs in the project have the same capacity.
o 2. Media: Face-to-face communication, general media communication and other advocacy tools such as producing IEC materials.
o 3. Monitoring and Evaluation
o 4. Networking: Amongst each village itself, and amongst women who are interested in the issue. Amongst the steering committee as well, such as between the NCCM and previous members of the task force.
· The original dream is not impossible to achieve, adds Dr. Helmy. It is possible to say that following three years, we have managed in large majority to reduce the rate of FGC in Egyptian villages.

9. Dr. Vivian Fouad, Training Coordinator of FGM Free Village Model
· Dr. Fouad expressed interest in the nature of FGM/C messages, and refining the messages of the FGM Free Village Model project.
· First lesson learnt from the Task Force; FGM/C is a socio-cultural issue. While working with the Ministry of Health to train religious leaders, Mrs. Fouad explored whether RH is a social issue or a purely medical issue. By the end of the training, Dr. Fouad considered FGM/C an essentially social issue.
· NCCM approached Dr. Assaad during the design process of the project, as the main approach is to tackle FGM/C as a socio-cultural and not a religious/medical issue. Other issues such as perceptions between men and women also fed into the project.
· Mrs. Fouad expressed a personal interest in exploring the issue of message content further, for she notes that from Alexandria to Aswan, she was met with arguments of the late Shiekh of al-Azhar Shiekh Gad el-Haqq. Within the socio-cultural issues, trainers had to justify FGM/C messages she adds. Following the training she discovered that religious and health messages are very poor.
· The medical-psychological effects of FGM/C are not included in the messages, following the medicalization of the procedure in Egypt. The public argues against the medical messages by stating that the procedure is conducted in a hygienic manner.
· Current health messages focus on whether or not the severed clitoris is an organ, and whether it has a physiological function. Messages focus on the function of the organ, and not on the side-effects of the procedure.
· The Egyptian woman’s idea of sexual pleasure is not a big issue, she adds. Sexuality is a very complex issue for both the circumcised and the non-circumcized woman. The issue of sexual pleasure is a luxury for the both the circumcised and the non-circumcized woman, as there is a perception that pleasure and orgasm are sin, for both Christians and Muslims. Pleasure is associated with shame. Some women may also argue that frigidity is powerful, as a woman will have no desire, and can keep her control.
· As such, messages of side-effects do not come across as convincing and positive. Egyptian men and women need to learn more about their bodies. (An Egyptian sheikh was once under the perception that if not circumcised, the clitoris would continue to grow).

Group Debate on FGM/C in Relationship to Sexuality, Religion and Content of FGM/C Messages
· The myth of FGM/C began more than 2000 years ago, and has remained silent until recently. Issue at hand is how can one discuss falsehood without frightening women?
· Communities should not be convinced by other practices, they must be provided with the right information. Information must be shared, not imposed.
· On medical ethics – The practice is not part of the medical curriculum, it is prohibited by the global medical community. Mention must be made of it in resource books.
· Christianity and Islam believe that pre-marital chastity is highly important for girls. Although FGM/C is not mentioned in any of the Holy books, the major world religions did not prevent communities from practicing female circumcision (the reference to FGM/C in one of the hadiths is very questionable as argued by Fiqhat al-Sunna, a 20th-century resource book written by Shiekh al-Said Sabek).
· FGM/C is also a highly political issue. During a recent training session in Aswan, a trainee described efforts to combat FGM/C as an American product to reform the Middle East.
· It is interesting to collect all statements and opinions of the different Islamic schools towards FGM/C. Especially interesting to study is the Sudanese medical school, as gynecologists in Sudan are trying to establish a new approach of FGM/C- by shifting from infibulation/pharonic circumcision to ‘sunna’ circumcision (arguing for sunna circumcision is considered a method of eliminating infibulation). It is interesting to study medical messages merged with the Islamic perspective towards FGM/C.
· “If circumcision ensures chastity, why is the Qanater prison full of circumcised prostitutes?” – Statement by Md. Aziz. This is a very powerful message.
· It is reported that some Islamic judges of the Andalus had the right to sentence a man or a woman who had excised another, who reports difficulty in sexuality, with the same procedure, as a form of restitution.
· Studies are currently being collected and compiled on the issue, these will be published for use by all.
· How does a community receive messages? We have learnt much more from people than we have impacted them. The religious message is still passive and negative. The positive must be encouraged. It must be promoted that Christianity and Islam refuses violence against women, and that both religion support women’s rights of sexuality.

Upcoming Meeting Date: Monday July 19th 2004 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: To be announced