22,197
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
wikify
Today is May 7th, [[WWDOGA|World Genital Self-Determination Day]]. Self-determination - understood as the ultimate goal of human maturation - is a process that lasts a lifetime. This process needs accompaniment: first by the mother, who then puts the baby on her breast when it signals the need, and then by the father, who gives additional impulses. Kindergarten, school, training - all these institutions are aimed at strengthening the personality and guiding it according to social ethics. Ideally, the caregivers aim to do good to the child and not inflict pain. At the age of 18 - it has become a convention worldwide - the child is then mature enough to be considered an adult and to decide about their own life.
In this context, what does the surgical intervention on the healthy genitals mean - for both girls and boys? Female genital mutilation has now been outlawed by major international organizations such as the UN, [[UNICEF]], [[UNIFEM]] and also [[World Health Organization]] as "harmful traditional practice" and has been denounced as a violation of [[human rights]]. [[TERRE DES FEMMES]] has declared war on her since 1981, when this topic became known in Germany. It is banned in many countries where female genital mutilation is practiced. Nevertheless, 200 million women and girls worldwide are affected - with serious health consequences.
Genital mutilation is practiced because it is believed to belong to the tradition of a people, because it supposedly turns a girl into a woman, because a girl otherwise has no chance of marriage, or because [[uncircumcised]] women are considered sexually insatiable. However, all of these sham reasons only allow one conclusion: The purpose of female genital mutilation is to control men over female sexuality.
The child is conveyed deep inside that his physical and mental integrity has its limits; it is branded for life. It can only regain its self-determination through an awareness process and a fight against the customs that have drawn it.
Every form of genital circumcision is an irreversible intervention in the physical and thus also in the mental integrity of a child. [[TERRE DES FEMMES]] sees the struggle for the right to physical, genital and sexual self-determination as a concern for society as a whole. Child protection must apply to all children. Children's rights cannot be put into perspective - not even by gender. No tradition and no religion can undermine children's rights and thus [[human rights]].
Our vision is that one day everyone will live an equal, self-determined and free life. That is why [[TERRE DES FEMMES]] is supporting the [[WWDOGA|World Genital Self-Determination Day]] today on May 7th.