Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Female Infanticide, Female Genital Cutting, Honor Killing
Female Infanticide, Female Genital Cutting, Honor Killing
Youth Advocate Program International 4545 42nd St. NW, Suite 209 Washington DC, 20016, USA www.yapi.org
What is discrimination?
What examples of discrimination come to mind? Does the United States provide equal opportunities for men and womenand girls and boys? If the US does provide equal opportunity between sexes, how does it do so? Is anyone familiar with the following words: female infanticide, female genital cutting, honor killing?
words to know
Child: The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines a child as a person under the age of 18. A girl child is thus a female younger than 18 years of age Discrimination: Treatment or consideration based on class or category rather than individual merit; partiality or prejudice.
Dowry: Money or property that a rides family must give to the family of her husband as a requirement of marriage.
forms of discrimination
Female Infanticide: The murder of a female infant. It occurs often as a deliberate murder or abandonment of a young girl or infant.
Selective Abortion: Also called gender-selective abortion, sex-selective abortion, or female feticideselective abortion. It involves the abortion of a fetus because it is a girl. Many women from communities or cultures with a preference for boys practice selective abortion.
forms of discrimination
Female Genital Cutting (FGC): The practice that involves the removal or the alteration of the female genitalia. It is a centuries-old practice found in many countries among people from various religions and beliefs, most prevalent in Africa.
Honor Killing: The practice of killing girls and women who are perceived to have dishonored a familys reputation by allegedly engaging in sexual activity or other improprieties before or outside of marriage. Improper behavior justifies grounds for killing. It has expanded to include transgressions, which are not initiated by the girl, including rape and incest.
Currently, 60 million girls are reported as missing as a result of infanticide, sex selective abortions, and neglect. At least 130 million girls alive today have undergone Female Genital Mutilation, and 2 million more are at risk every year. It is reported that at least 5,000 women and girls are murdered each year for honors sake by members of their own families. United Nation statistics, national reports and studies initiated by non-governmental organizations repeatedly show that girls, as a group, have lower literacy rates, receive less health care, and more impoverished than boys.
Source: Youth Advocate Program International: www.yapi.org Source: Youth Advocate Program International: www.yapi.org Source: United Nations Childrens Fund: www.unicef.org Source: Amnesty International: www.amnesty.org
female infanticide
female infanticide
Lakshmi was 20 years old and already had one daughter. Upon the arrival of a second girl she no option but to kill this second daughter. Lakshmi refused to nurse the newborn and to silence the infants cries of hunger she fed her a poisonous combination of sap and castor oil. The baby died soon after.
Source: Kumar, Sampath, Life for India Baby Girl Killers, 17 April, 2003, BBC News, World Edition, (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2956065.stm)
According to UNICEF, up to 50 million girls are missing from Indias population due to the countrys gender discrimination.
What: The practice that involves the removal or alteration of the female genitalia. Who: Young or adolescent girls from cultures that believe that FGC will prevent girls from being promiscuous and prevent them from engaging in sexual intercourse before marriage. Where: 28 African countries, Muslim populations, Indigenous groups in Central and South America. Why: Cultural beliefs and attitudes on multiple fronts: sexual, sociological, hygienic and aesthetic, religious Effects: Physical ~ Pain, damage to organs, hemorrhage, chronic infections, complications with sexual intercourse and childbirth. Psychological ~ Shock, anxiety
Hannah was genitally cut when she was eight years old. She knew little about the procedure, but understood it to be a ritual, a ceremony, a process that would allow her to become a woman. Six women held Hannah down to perform the procedure. There was no anesthesia or pain medication at any point during the procedure, and Hannah almost lost consciousness because of the immense pain. The practitioner was then paid the equivalent of one dollar for the procedure.
Source:UNICEF, www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ethiopia_18246.html
Approximately 54% of girls in Ethiopia are subjected to FGC. There is no national action plan to fight against this abuse.
honor killing
What: Killing of women that can be defined as acts of murder in which a woman is killed for her actual or perceived immoral behavior. Who: Women who have failed to keep marriage contracts, refused to agree to arranged marriages, requested divorce, flirted with men other then their husbands, or for allowing themselves to be raped. Where: Most prominent in the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and Northwest Africa. Why: For violating sexual norms or being victims of rape or other sexual rumor. This is a custom where women are treated as property and business contracts.
honor killing
Men who kill women for the sake of honor in Jordan are usually sentenced to only a few months in jail. They serve even less time if they hold minor status.
discussion
What are three reasons why women face prejudice around the world?
Do you think that equal education of girls and boys would provide more equal rights and less discrimination against girls? Who should be in charge of making changes regarding the issues we have discussed today? Why do you think people continue to commit these acts, even though there are laws against them in some places? What do you think you can do to help?