Senior Project Part II

I have been meaning to do this for awhile, but I have been extremely lazy and I was not sure how I wanted to present the work I have done. This week I finished my third public policy and so I figured I could do a short overview and what I learned from it. 

1. Female Genital Mutilation and Egypt: 

Female genital mutilation is a topic that not a lot of people know about, especially in western civilization. Female genital mutilation is pretty much what it sounds like and is defined by WHO as, "procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons."
I heard about this practice back in 2008, from none other then America's Next Top Model. During this cycle, there was a beautiful contestant from Somalia named Fatima, she was an amazing woman. Later in the season she would open up about her experience, but did not go into much detail. She did mention that another girl had died during that time from a loss of blood. I remember watching this episode and thinking, how can anyone ever want to do this to their child? You can 

argue that boys get circumcised, but not like this. Young girls are normally between the ages of 8-12 when this happens and depending on the area where they are from the procedure can be brutal and even cause extensive psychological issues; It is heartbreaking.
I picked Egypt because it is estimated that 91% of married women have gone through this procedure. And this past year has been a milestone in the Egyptian's judicial system; in 2013 there a 13 year old girl who died after her father insisted she go through FGM and a Dr. Fadl performed it. For while there was no one held accountable for these actions. However, both the doctor and the father have been convicted and face jail time. It isn't not a long sentence, but it is a step in the right direction.
This practice is banned in Egypt but is commonly practiced, claiming it is a religious practice, when religious leaders (Islam and Christian) have both come out to say that is against what God wants. A lot of families believe that the practice of FGM will allow their girls to be sexually pure, but it does the opposite. It makes sex pleasure and undesirable. I think the most distributing part I read through my research is that some of the men  who have wives that have been part of FGM, feel like it is their men obligation to not take their women to doctors to get cut open before sexual intercourse, but will penetrate to prove their manhood. I am someone who likes to think the best of people, but this is something no woman should ever do! 

To further understand here are some long-term consequences: 

·         recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections;
·         cysts;
·         infertility;
·         an increased risk of childbirth complications and newborn deaths;
·         the need for later surgeries. For example, the FGM procedure that seals or narrows a vaginal opening (type 3 above) needs to be cut open later to allow for sexual intercourse and childbirth. Sometimes it is stitched again several times, including after childbirth, hence the woman goes through repeated opening and closing procedures, further increasing and repeated both immediate and long-term risks.

2. Sex Trafficking and Major Sporting Events

The week  before this year's Super Bowl I came across an article about sex trafficking and how it increases during times of major sporting events. What intrigued me the most, was that when the 2014 Super Bowl was located at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey, the state government worked really hard to make sure they could crack down on trafficking laws, and from what I read they had a lot of success. They were able to rescue about 50 women, some can argue that these women choose this, but during the 2004 Olympics in Greece, there was a 95% increase in the number of human trafficking cases recorded during the event. If that does not prove anything I do not what would. The main argument I make in this pubic policy is that organizations like IOC, FIFA, and NFL should work with governments or NGOs to make sure their events promote safety. Sex trafficking occurs every day, but by bringing it into the light during big events like this, I feel like people can be made more aware of the issue and work with people to prevent it. 

3.  Dowry Laws and India 

Being a single woman in a Mormon Community, I feel like it would be easier if my parents married me off. However, I am lucky and have the choice to pick who I marry and there is not a cost. In India the dowry is illegal but a common practice. In India women are seen as less than men, they are a burden to the family because they cannot work as hard and they will not pass on the family name. The dowry has been explained by simple terms of being, “-payments from the bride's family to the groom or groom's family at the time of marriage-has a long history in India and other Asian societies. The modern Indian dowry system has its roots in the traditional upper-caste practices of kanyadhan (literal meaning: gift of the virgin bride), varadakshina (voluntary gifts given by the bride's father to the groom), and stridhan (voluntary gifts given by relatives and friends to the bride). Traditionally, although these gifts could be significant, they were often small tokens of good wishes. More recently, however, the dowry has come to involve a substantial transfer of wealth from the bride's family to the groom's, and has become a major factor in marriage negotiations.” 

Basically, whatever family has the most valuables and money will be able to marry off their daughters and could even be obligated to continue to pay the in-laws for the rest of their life. At times, putting the bride's family in massive debt. But its not just the money, a majority of these women are being beaten, abused, and even killed. As well as if they are not giving birth to sons, they are forced to kill their new born daughters or abused. The issue that India is facing with the dowry is that even though it is illegal, there is not much force behind it. And now women are being accused of abusing the law and that the husbands and their families are the victims in this case. Though I can understand that people can abuse laws, there is sufficient enough evidence to show that a majority of the brides are victims themselves. Women need safe places to go if they are being abused and they need the government protecting them. 

And there you have it; three different topics that affect women in developing nations and even could come here to the Untied States. I really hope that whoever reads this has a better understanding. Though these women are far away and I do not know their names or personally, I feel like we need to still acknowledge that these things occur, be educated, and even try to work towards helping at least one woman.