Egyptian Judge Acquits Doctor in First FGM Prosecution

90% of women under age 50 have been mutilated in Egypt. Yet, despite a 2008 ban, no one has ever been convicted for performing FGM in Egypt.Sun, November 23, 2014

In what was hoped to be a watershed moment in the fight against female genital mutilation (FGM) in Egypt, the first-ever prosecution for performing FGM ended in an acquittal for both the doctor and the father who were accused of breaking Egypt’s 2008 law which banned the procedure.

Meanwhile, in Uganda, five people – both men and women – werefound guilty of participating in the mutilation of girls, which was outlawed in the country in 2010. The conviction, which came after a guilty plea by all the defendants, was a rare occurrence in Uganda, where previous arrests for the crime have been made but few convictions have been handed down. The five were given four-year prison terms.

The Egyptian case centered around Sohair el-Batea, a gifted 13- year old girl from a Nile Delta village who died in June 2013 after the procedure was performed on her by Raslan Fadl, a medical doctor and an Islamic cleric. Prosecutors charged Sohair’s father with forcing her to undergo the procedure.

Despite evidence from medical reports provided by Egypt’s forensic authority that proved that Sohair has been subjected to FGM, the judge in the case ignored the reports, according to Reda el-Danbouki, one of the lawyers involved in the case. Similarly, the judge ignored a decision by the health ministry ordering the doctor’s clinic to be shut down for violating medical practices.

Instead, the judge in the town of Aga, where the case was heard, merely wrote an acquittal verdict in the court ledger, giving no reason for his decision. The verdict was not announced in the courtroom.

El-Danbouki said he is planning to appeal in conjunction with human rights groups.

Meanwhile, Fadl’s clinic is still operating, according to the Associated Press, whose reporters visited the clinic last month. During the trial,Fadl blamed Sohair’s death on an allergy to penicillin.

“Of course there will be no stopping any doctor after this. Any doctor can do any FGM he wants now,” said Atef Aboelenein, a lawyer for the Women’s Centre for Guidance and Legal Awareness.

Aboelenein, who was the first to find out about the verdict, added, “This opens the door for any doctor to perform the same procedure without fear of being held accountable and in absence of any deterrence.”

Sohair’s family initially filed a complaint with the police saying the girl had died as a result of the FGM that had been performed on her by Fadl, but changed their story during the trial due to a reconciliation agreement between the family and the doctor. In that agreement, the doctor agreed to pay 60,000 pounds (about $8,500) to the girl’s mother.

As a consequence of the reconciliation, the judge dropped the charge of manslaughter against Sohair’s father.

"It is awful that after what seemed to be strong moves towards a positive outcome, Sohair has not been given justice," said Suad Abu Dayyeh, a representative for the NGO Equality Now.

"The verdict is disappointing and it's a problem," said Manal Fawzy, of the Childhood and Development Association, an NGO that campaigns against FGM in southern Egypt. "Now it will be easy for any doctor to perform such surgeries."

Despite the ban on FGM in Egypt – a law which carries with it a punishment of up to two years in prison -- more than 90% of Egyptian women under the age of 50 have been cut.

FGM, includes all procedures involving partial or complete removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. It is generally practiced on girls between the ages of four and 12.

FGM ranges in severity to the removal of part or all of the clitoris, excision of the clitoris along with the removal of the external genitalia and the stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening. In the most severe cases, the procedure also involves the scraping of tissue surrounding the vaginal opening and/or the introduction of corrosive substances or herbs into the vagina to cause tightening.

The overwhelming majority of mutilations worldwide are performed by untrained lay people with no use of anesthesia.

FGM is performed for non-medical reasons. It is a trauma that denies a woman a normal sexual life and condemns her to a life of pain. Short-term complications can include hemorrhaging, pain, shock and even death, while long-term complications include formation of cysts, problems with sexual intercourse, chronic pelvic infection, life threatening childbirth, a lower rate of survival to babies born to women who have been mutilated and a significantly higher rate of stillborn birth for women who have been subjected to the gruesome practice.

It is estimated that three million girls undergo FGM every year. The practice has long been regarded a critical public health issue by the World Health Organization and other national and international health organizations because of its harmful physical and mental effects.

Saudi Restaurants Begin Banning Single Women -Sumi Khan

Sun, November 30, 2014

Various restaurants around the kingdom have objected to 'shocking' behavior which includes flirting, smoking and using a mobile phone.

A Saudi Arabian woman on her cell phone. Saudi restaurant owners have begin to ban single women for objectionable behavior including use of a cell phone.

In another blow to women’s rights in the desert kingdom, Saudi Arabian restaurants have begun to ban single women from entering their premises. The ban has also been extended to  women not accompanied by a male guardian.

Signs in various restaurants around the kingdom have begun popping up announcing the ban. Restaurant owners claim that women in restaurants have been behaving in “a shocking way,” according to one blogger who supported the ban.

The objectionable behavior included flirting, smoking and using a mobile phone. Local media Al Marsad reported a typical remark written by one blogger who wrote: “She would come in alone and focuses on her mobile from which emanates loud music.  She then takes out a cigarette and upsets other guests who may call in the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. This could cause problem for the restaurant. So the best thing is to keep women away from restaurants unless they have a male custodian. That way the restaurant is not shut down because of the misbehavior of an adolescent or mentally unstable woman.”

Other disagreed, writing, “This is utterly ridiculous. This means that a hungry woman who wants to eat something needs a male custodian to enter a restaurant,” Harraq said. “This is so shameful. Such attitudes are not accepted from any Muslim regarding anyone, let alone a hungry woman who wants to eat something and who will sit in the family section of the restaurant. She is a human being and she has feelings and emotions.”

Speaking to Al-Hayat, one Saudi woman said that restaurants and cafes are the two of the main sources of recreation for women in the kingdom. "If they're going to ban us from entering restaurants, where are we supposed to go?" she asked, requesting that any restaurant that bans women should be boycotted.

Rights groups expressed outrage over this new phenomenon, which they said were illegal. “These signs are against the law and reflect the personal opinions of the restaurant owners,"said Khalid Al-Fakhri , secretary general for the National Society for Human Rights. "Restaurants should come up with alternative solutions if its customers are behaving inappropriately." Meanwhile, despite the requirement for women to wear burkas in public, sexual harassment of Saudi women remains rampant .

Saudi Arabia has one of the world’s most dismal records for women’s rights. Women in the kingdom are forbidden to be in public without a male guardian. Most sports activities and professions are forbidden to them. Saudi Arabia is also the only country in the world where women are not allowed to drive.