Saleema Campaign

Female genital cutting is a deep social and religious tradition. One, that has been practiced since ancient times. Genital cutting was created based on the belief that the foreskin was the feminine part of the male and the clitoris the masculine part of the woman. The removal of extra tissue thereby circumvented sexual ambiguity. It is a practice that represents the extreme inequality women and girls face everyday all around the world. The Arab world places the stigma of shame upon girls who are uncut.


Justification of this practice continues until this day. It is hard to believe that as I type this, girls are faced with this horrific reality. Supporters of the practice justify in terms of preserving their cultural identity, controlling women’s sexuality by reducing their sexual fulfillment; and as a religious duty and doctrine, among other things. Therefore, communities that practice genital mutilation have a sense of responsibility to carry on the tradition and it remains a requirement for social acceptance.

In Sudan, UNICEF and the EU are working to end genital cutting. The‘Saleema’ programme celebrates girls who are not cut. The program aims to educate Sudanese families and encourage them to discuss taboo subjects like genital cutting. By doing so, they ask Sudanese to consider the implications of the practice and how it relates to human rights.

Each of us has a responsibility to support organizations like UNICEF and their efforts to bring an end to practices that oppress anyone, especially children.

I ask the same questions over and over...

So, with all the news of bullying lately I wanted to dedicate some time to having a discussion on what's been going on.

15 year old Billy Lucas, because of years of torment and being called a fag, hung himself and was found by his mother. Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, jumped off the George Washington Bridge the day after a video showing him and another man having a sexual encounter was posted on the Internet, initially left me at a loss of words. I am disgusted at what some people feel to be a joke. I sat in front of my computer and started to see more and more names of young children taking their lives because of the torment and harrasment they faced. The pain they felt must have been enormous. So enormous that they felt they had nothing to live for. And all of this pain visited upon these young lives because of one thing they had in common: they were not heterosexual.

 

What kind of society have we become when children are taking their lives because of who they are? What are we teaching our children when they go to school and bully others? It is obviously not easy living as a homosexual in this world. What an enormous weight they must carry on their shoulders every waking moment. Can we not have compassion? Must we act in an "ungodly" manner?

Who is responsible, I would argue that we are each responsible for these deaths as long as we allow them to happen. Society's incomprehensible actions are what have created this climate towards gay and lesbians. We are told by religious leaders that this is evil, some would say homosexuals will go to hell. Facists seek out to push these young kids to exactly what happened to Tyler and Billy. REALLY!?!? I'm disgusted!! My sadness has turned into disgust. Every human being deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. We as a society cannot stand in judgement of anyone, we cannot impose our beleifs on others.

We need to be teaching our children that these actions are wrong, no matter what our beleifs are. Every campus should have an open forum, not only so people can vent their frustrations, but also to educate people about homosexuality and the plight face by this population. The more society tries to hide and sweep this issue under the rug, the more things like this will happen. What are we afraid of? Lets address those fears so that we can become an enlightened society. Our youth are being held hostage by a religious and political rhetoric that strives to maintain the status quo of anti-gay heterosexist normativity. The messages sent out by organizations like Focus on the Family and others, continually strive to leave the most vulnerable among us exposed to continuous attack. What do we do? We just need quality education on sexuality and gender identity in our schools and more faithful and courageous preaching and teaching in our churches.

My heart aches for the children that face bullying, for the children that have taken their lives, and for the families who have lost a child due to this malice. I can't imagine walking into my childs room and finding she has taken her life. Let's treat each other with dignity, respect, and compassion. We all deserve it!!  The longer we wait the more young people will die.