Iraqi Kurdish women’s organizations leading the way in fight against FGM

Female genital mutilation is a widespread phenomenon affecting up to 90 percent of women in the African countries of Egypt, Sudan and Somalia. But, to a lesser extent, it also occurs throughout the Middle East. However, In Iraq, local Kurdish women’s organizations are leading the way to combat the problem, Time reported on January 4.

“These are busy times for Pakhshan Zangana,” the article notes. “Head of the women’s caucus in the Iraqi Kurdish parliament in Arbil, she is on the verge of pushing through a piece of legislation that is the first of its kind in the Middle East – a law criminalizing female genital mutilation (FGM).”

“Sixty-eight out of 120 deputies signed our bill, so we could have got it passed by ministerial decree,” Zangana says. “But law-making is the job of parliament, and we want everybody to debate this issue openly.”

The article adds: “The bill received its first reading on Dec. 3 and is likely to be passed by February.”

For the full article, click here.