In Nevada, on March 1, a profound Amendment passed the 36th state, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The ERA is unfinished business granting the equal rights of women and men under our Constitution. Two more states remain with precedence for ratification. Terrifyingly, one of the scare tactics by the opposition reported that supporting the Equal Rights Amendment would make female genital mutilation/circumcision mainstream. Do you know what female mutilation is? Do you know why it happens? Does any sane person think this is a factual correlation? If so, we need to fight and fight now. But, no rational person believes this rhetoric, or that WE THE PEOPLE would elect a “pussy grabbing” president. Well, these are corrupt and heinous times.
First, female genital mutilation (FGM) is not required in Muslim law. It is an ancient cultural practice that existed before Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. There are four different types of mutilation. Visit the Daughters of Eve for further information. http://www.dofeve.org/types-of-fgm.html The reality was beyond the macabre. 50% of any population is female, and in 30 countries, they will be sexually mutilated.
The World Health Organization, WHO, discusses several key facts:
- Female genital mutilation includes procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
- The procedure has no health benefits for girls and women.
- Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
- More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated.
- FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.
FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women. These actions have one directive, which is the aim of forever curbing women’s sexual pleasure. But sadly, there is another side. It is a common belief that it is forced on women by men. In fact, elderly women often do the most to perpetuate the custom. For example, African girls are not held down by men, but the elder women and some of them voluntarily partake in the ritual, regardless of the negative health consequences. FGM is illegal. Even if carried out by a healthcare professional, it is a form of gender-based violence, it is a human rights violation, and it is a form of child abuse.
In Indonesia, on a day when 268 children were mutilated, a grandma reports that there are other benefits when asked, “Oh yes,” she said, with a tinkling laugh. “My grandmother always said that circumcised women cook more delicious rice.”
I can’t imagine, the screaming, the pain, the torture all in the name of control, not religion, CONTROL. Women are caught in the power struggle between religion vs state vs identity. Focusing on 17 countries, UNFPA and UNICEF together lead the largest global program to accelerate the abandonment of female genital mutilation. So now we return to the Equal Rights Amendment that passed on March 1st. This battle has been in the works since 1923. So, shame on you, Victor Joecks of the LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, for your alternative fact that giving women equal rights would make female genital mutilation legal. Violation of the human rights of girls, women, boys, and men are a right protected by the U.S. Constitution. That is atrocious to lie about the benefits of the ERA. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
