FGM in Sierra Leone
Thought this was interesting...I had never thought about the money/business angle concerning FGM.
Posted by Jessica - December 02, 2008, at 05:19PM
| in
International
,
Video
,
Violence Against Women
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: FGM in Sierra Leone .
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.feministing.com/cgi-bin/movabletype/mt-tb.fcgi/10688












I think this video helps to highlight the problems that often accompany human rights legislation. Western nations often approach human rights as though it is a universal idea, and thus implement international laws against such crimes as FGM (and put pressure on countries to develop their own domestic laws via signing international conventions) without bearing local remedies, traditions, cultures in mind. Before western women start lamenting human rights abuses in "developing" nations they must first allow the women in those nations to discuss the issue, where it stems from, and remedies that would actually work (ex. working on the economic and cultural/traditional reasons behind FGM) before creating international laws and exploiting stories in order to scare an international audience.
I am not advocating for FGM, just pointing out the cultural relativity of the issue. You can keep creating international and national laws against such practices, but unless a culture has the resources or the will to tackle the issue it will remain unchanged. And really, human rights ideas have been defined by Western nations, who's to say that they are, or should be, universally accepted.
I really liked this video because I think it also highlights the need for systemic change in how the world does business. If there were more economic opportunities, it seems like it would be easier to end FGM and approach it in a culturally senstivie way.