I totally agree that Female circumcision must be banned in cultures that
practice it. I came interested in this issue since 1990. From then, I started
doing research about it and in 1994, I presented a paper entitled "The
negative effects of female circumcision on women in Africa "at a conference
held at Boston University. Now this paper has become part of a chapter in a
book I am writing about Africa. I am hoping to publish the book this coming
summer. The title is "Africa, we owe it to our Ancestors, our Children and
Ourselves." This chapter has addressed the myth we have about female
circumcision and why we call it a taboo. My research has indicated that the
original Holy Qur'an is against female circumcision and that we should not
use female circumcision as a method for achieving chastity. I am very much
interested in this issue because it violates the rights of young girls who
have been forced to go through this destructive practice in our cultures. It
affects sustainable development in Africa as well as hinders the progress of
democracy in Africa because democracy is not just a change of government or
leadership but also a change from our evil practices that we have in our
nations, societies and homes. When we call female circumcision as being part
of our culture and that it is a taboo, what we are saying is that we do not
want to face it because this is challenging us to change. Culture has and
will always be created by human beings and to my understanding it has to be
the responsibility of all human beings in that society to change it to the
best interest of our children. A healthy change comes about through positive
dialogue. However, this requires us to understand the issue at hand before we
even enter into a dialogue instead of building defense mechanism. Denying
that female circumcision is a health hazard or hiding it, is undemocratic and
is a violation of human right. It is also non religious. May God Bless us all.
Michael Banutu-Gomez

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