A first positive reaction from Baghdad on Panas’s and Wadi’s report:
A member of the human rights committee in the Iraqi Council of Representatives today called on its Kurdish counterpart to coordinate together to fight against female circumcision, adding that awareness and education are the most important weapons to combat the practice.
MP Ashwaq al-Jaff of the Iraqi committee said: “Educating against this phenomenon is the responsibility of the human rights committee in Baghdad and Erbil in coordination with civil society organizations, cultural centers and media, as well as the important role of the family.
Jaff explained that his committee reviewed a report published yesterday by AKnews about female circumcision. (…)
AKnews published yesterday a report based on a study prepared by Sulaimaniyah-based German NGO Wadi e.V. and PANA, a local women’s rights organization in Kirkuk. Both organizations worked together to interview 1,212 women and girls, aged above 14 years, living in Kirkuk.
The study found that 38.2 percent of the sample had undergone female genital mutilation (FGM) in a region previously assumed to be free of the ancient custom.
