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

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

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

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

· 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

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

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.

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

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

· 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

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

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

Side Notes

o Recommendation: Organizing a conference with the donor community

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.

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

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

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

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

Meeting Date: Monday July 19th 2004 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.