Ethiopia: The realities of female genital mutilation (By Claire-Marine Varin)

(Oct 06, 2011, ( Mc Gill Daily))--A case study in Ethiopia opens up discussion about FGM. Eighty to ninety per cent of women and children in eight different African countries  undergo Female Genitalia Mutation (FGM).

This practice is not restricted to Africa but is also prevalent in developed, Western countries such as the UK and France, and over two million girls around the world are at risk of becoming survivors of FGM.

Asresash Demissie, director of the Women’s Affairs Office at the Jimma University in Ethiopia and renowned specialist in Women’s Rights, gave a seminar at McGill’s  Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (IGSF) on the topic.  She revealed details of the procedure and presented a first-hand account from a victim’s perspective.

Demissie began her story by showing us a photo of a young woman, crumpled desolately against a dusty road, crying.  The pain of this woman was palpable, though her face could not be seen. Read more from The Mc Gill Daily »

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