Issue:
FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION:
a procedure performed especially as a cultural right that typically includes the total or partial excision of the female external genitalia and especially the clitoris and labia minora and that is now outlawed in many nations including the United States —abbreviation FGM —called also female circumcision
Defender: Fauziya Kassindja from Togo
(merriam-webster dictionary definition)
Group Members: Teonna B., Brittani R., Mohammad C.
Although it is almost impossible to resolve all human rights violations, by educating the people and getting other people to help the cause the problem can be minimized. The issue of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) will not be resolved overnight but there are people working to limit it. Female genital Mutilation is a big religious practice which has been performed for many years. Even though many people believe FGM is right, there are also plenty of people in this world who have no idea what it even is, so one of the best ways to help the cause is to bring
awareness to it. Also getting out and reaching to women who have suffered from
FGM can encourage them to join the cause to stand up for what they truly believe
in.
Many defenders of human rights issues have either come to serve due to their own personal experiences or their own want to bring awareness to these causes. Fauziya Kassindja dedicated her life to bring awareness to Female Genital Mutilation as a result to her own personal experiences. Kassindja wasn't personally a victim of FGM, but unlike many she was able to escape. She felt as though no one should be pressured into doing something they didn't want to do even if it is thought to be "religiously correct." She knows the struggle she had to go through to escape this punishment, so it was her goal to help others out there who need it.
Articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that are violated by this human rights issue:
- Article 5, No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
- Article 18, Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
- Article 18, Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.