Africa

The Circumcision of Women: A Strategy for Eradication

The author shows that female circumcision is not confined to the Horn of Africa, or the Muslim areas of the continent. Her study of the practice in Sierra Leone demonstrates its important role in the traditional initiation of females into both womanhood and society in parts of West Africa. The material sets out detailed and practical proposals for a 20 year programme to end “the crippling of women by this operation”.

Female Genital Mutilation in Nigeria

This monograph describes Nigeria’s social structure, the basis and nature of Nigeria’s harmful traditional practices, and problems faced by women both in the context of female genital mutilation and patriarchy.

"What about Female Genital Mutilation: And Why Understanding Culture Matters in the First Place”

This articlelooks at customs, rituals, myths, and taboos that have perpetuated the practice of FGM. It also harps on the disastrous health effects of FGM, combined with the social injustices that it perpetuates, and the contributing barrier to overall African development.

Female Genital Mutilation: Legal, Cultural and Medical Issues

This book discusses the definition and types of FGM and explores the common justifications for the practice, along with rates of incidence in Africa and other continents, global laws, legal issues, rights and religion. Ethical considerations are examined, as are progress and the role of culture. The book concludes with thoughts on the movement from tradition to cultural evolution.

Female Genital Mutilation briefing paper

It is estimated that some 140 million women, girls and babies throughout the world have been genitally mutilated. Another three million girls are at risk of such mutilation each year. Female genital mutilation is primarily practised in 28 African countries, the incidence varying markedly within various regions and countries according to ethnic affiliation. National rates of prevalence vary from 1 to 98 percent. The practice is also transported to Europe, America and else-where as a result of migration.

Female Circumcision in Africa: Culture, Controversy, and Change

This is a material on the reclassification of FGM: the Local to Global Nature of the practice. It looks at the misunderstanding, confusion, and controversy over the complex dimensions of FGM that remain unresolved.

Female Genital Mutilation – related Laws in select African Union member countries

This report deals with law reform processes in legislating FGM. It gives background information on the types of laws in some African countries, including those without specific laws against FGM.

Empowering women against disinheritance, a project with Human Angle, Nigeria

This project was implemented by Human Angle, an organisation that has been working in Nigeria to protect the right of widows to inherit their deceased husbands’ estate, without being dispossessed by their in-laws. Human Angle uses the following ways to achieve this aim:

SWG Workshop for African partners in Lagos, Nigeria, Dec 13-15 2010

BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights hosted the Sexuality Workshop held for African Partners from December 12-16, 2010 in Lagos, Nigeria. A total of 18 partners including one logistics person were in attendance. The overall workshop objective was to consolidate the projects executed by African Partners under the MDG 3 grant awarded to Women Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) and Institute for Women’s Empowerment (IWE), discuss ways forward and build synergies across different countries implementing the project. The following planned outcomes were achieved from the project:

Sudanese Women's Dress Codes and African Protocols for Women's Rights, projects with Salmmah Women's Resource Centre, Sudan

Salmmah addresses women issues specially violence against women. Salmmah is leading an on-going campaign on the "Rape Law Reform" that aims to reform article 149 in the 1991 Sudanese Criminal Act on rape, and participates in the "Dress Code" campaign focusing on article 152 "indecent acts" in the 1991 Criminal Act, that gives the perpetrator (police officer) all the right to judge the victim women/girl according to his own manners and beliefs and in all cases in an inhumane way.