Cultural Evolution
Feb. 2nd, 2004 11:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldFrom the New York Times:
Doctor in Italy Tries to Ease Pain of an African Tradition
By FRANK BRUNI
Published: February 1, 2004
LORENCE, Italy, Jan. 26 — Week after week, scarred women came to Dr. Omar Abdulcadir's gynecology clinic here for help, and while the ways in which they suffered differed, the reason was always the same.
They were immigrants to Italy who had been subjected back in Africa to a brutal girlhood ritual, common throughout much of the continent, in which part or all of their external genitalia had been sliced off.
Dr. Abdulcadir treated their infections or inflammation and then, earlier this month, took an unusual step — intended, he said, to protect their daughters from the same fate. He publicly proposed that the hospital where he works let him perform a much less severe version of — or alternative to — female genital cutting.
His goal, he said, was to ease the physical toll of a tradition that was not going away.
"My proposal isn't ideal," he said. "But is there a better answer for how to save the children?"
Read more.
Inasmuch as saving the children goes, punishing their parents if they even think of sexually mutilating their offspring is an excellent first step.
You know, there are some cultural elements which deserve to die. There are also some which deserve to be killed. FGM falls into the second category.
Doctor in Italy Tries to Ease Pain of an African Tradition
By FRANK BRUNI
Published: February 1, 2004
LORENCE, Italy, Jan. 26 — Week after week, scarred women came to Dr. Omar Abdulcadir's gynecology clinic here for help, and while the ways in which they suffered differed, the reason was always the same.
They were immigrants to Italy who had been subjected back in Africa to a brutal girlhood ritual, common throughout much of the continent, in which part or all of their external genitalia had been sliced off.
Dr. Abdulcadir treated their infections or inflammation and then, earlier this month, took an unusual step — intended, he said, to protect their daughters from the same fate. He publicly proposed that the hospital where he works let him perform a much less severe version of — or alternative to — female genital cutting.
His goal, he said, was to ease the physical toll of a tradition that was not going away.
"My proposal isn't ideal," he said. "But is there a better answer for how to save the children?"
Read more.
Inasmuch as saving the children goes, punishing their parents if they even think of sexually mutilating their offspring is an excellent first step.
You know, there are some cultural elements which deserve to die. There are also some which deserve to be killed. FGM falls into the second category.
