‘Piercing the Veil’

‘Piercing the Veil’ Transcending Obstacles that Religious Fundamentalisms Pose to Girls’ and Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights, Nanci Hogan EURONGO, November 9, 2010

Human Rights • Freedom of Conscience and freedom to practice one’s individual religion and culture • Freedom from discrimination, freedom from physical harm (anything that violates physical integrity CEDAW, Beijing, Vienna Congress on Human Rights, UN Declaration of Human Rights, etc.

The Binaries • A form of western liberal women’s rights ‘imperialism’ where religion and culture are relegated to private sphere and are trumped by women’s human rights • Cultural relativism: Cultural and Religious rights trump women’s rights. It’s their culture, so what can we do?

Religion and Culture • They are not synonymous. Too often they are conflated. They influence and inform one another in unpredictable ways. • They are both plural, heterogeneous, not monolithic. Constantly being contested. • They are both constantly changing from within and in response to outside influences

Results of this Binary • Us versus Them Mentality at UN CSW and other women’s conferences over women’s sexual and reproductive health rights. Obstruction • Cultural Relativism which reinforces the most conservative strains of culture at the expense of the well being or flourishing of women and girls. • Conclusion: By relegating religion to the private sphere, its influences for good and for harm are hidden.

Religion Matters Contrary to expectations (Berger, et al) secularism has not prevailed over time. Rather, as we see religions influences are on the increase. “Because religion does matter to many women, even when a piece of legislation may protect their rights (as in the case of domestic violence or access to contraception), they may not necessarily access those rights because they deeply believe that the religion says otherwise.

Religion Matters So the rejection of the religious discourse may not be useful for women who hold religion dear to their hearts. Religion is a source of strength for many, including for many feminists who believe that there is no contradiction between the basic tenets of the religion and the basic principles of human rights.” Zaitun Mohammed Kasmin (ARROW 2008, 45)

All forms of a particular religion are not equal • Religion as an ethical system and a system of values/morality. A response to the questions, “What does it mean to be human” and “What does it mean to flourish.” • Heterogeneous • Plural • Evolving and changing • Context---historical, political

Religious Fundamentalisms Michael Lim Tan in Surfacing prefers the term religious exceptionalism rather than religious fundamentalism: “Religious exceptionalism’ is the view that one’s own religion has a monopoly on the truth and the interpretation of ‘good’ usually accompanied by a nation that one’s own God is the only ‘true’ God. Religious exceptionalists lobby to impose their values on an entire community, or even country, through public policies and laws. Some groups and individuals suggest this is an alternative term for religious fundamentalism.” (Surfacing, 13)

FGM/C as a Case Study for Best Practice • 1979 WHO and other women’s organizations begin to identify FGM/C as a ‘harmful traditional practice’ and a form of violence against women • FGM/C framed as a women’s human right issue and a form of violence against women (CEDAW, Beijing, various conventions) and not as a religious matter. • Moral outrage versus cultural relativity • Past 10 years, best practice at community level involves engaging religious leaders

Best Practice: Working with Religious Leaders • Kenya • UNFPA/UNDP Joint Fund

UNFPA/UNICEF • OBJECTIVE: 40% reduction of the practice of FGM/C among girls 0-15 years old in order to create a tipping point or critical mass for the abandonment of FGM/C on a country wide basis. • In 2009, activities supported by the fund “led to the public abandonment of 256 in 2009 communities in Senegal, 439 communities in the Gambia, 68 communities in Guinea, 14 communities in Somaliland and 224 communities in the Sudan.”

Some Best Practice: UNFPA/UNICEF JOINT FUND • December 30, 2009 160 religious leaders in Somaliland came together to issue a national declaration reaffirming their collective rejection of all forms of FGM/C and their recognition of the fatwa of the International Union of Muslim Scholars against the practice of FGM/C” ("The End Is in Sight: Moving toward the Abandonment of Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation, Annual Report 2009 UNFPA/UNICEF Joint Programme on Female Genital Mutilation-Cutting") p. 7-8

Lessons Learned • Enlisting support of religious leaders is criticalfor encouraging communities to abandon the practice • Locating and emphasizing interpretations of religion that support abandonment of FGM/C (they exist) is critical for promoting the abandonment of this practice

Women Living Under Muslim Law • Founded 1984 in Algeria • Contested fundamentalist Muslim interpretations of women’s identity in Algeria • Uncovered and promoted different interpretations of Islam and Muslim law that supported women’s rights, i.e. women’s rights are not just western or opposed to Islam (Just Advocacy? essay entitled “Piercing the Veil,” by MadhaviSunder)

Dialogic Model • Works within a religious tradition: insists that women should not required to leave or abandon their religious beliefs or communities. • Give women not just freedom from violence, but freedom to make the world • Religion is not sovereign, neither is culture

Dialogic Model (WLUML)2 • There is more than one way to be a Muslim • Critiques conservative fundamentalists as well as those on the left who might be cultural relativists • Affirms women’s rights to engage within their community on equal terms • Affirms women’s rights to shape their communities and to have a voice in shaping culture (e.g. break exclusive male monopoly on interpretation of religious texts)

TOOLS: Flourishing • A notion of flourishing which encompasses both the right to physical integrity and the possibility of shaping one’s own community (florere, eudomonia) • What constitutes flourishing in a particular community and how is that shaped/reinforced by religious values? • How are the resources of religion used by the powerful to reinforce their power (political use of religion)

Tools: Research Questions • Who Flourishes? • At whose expense do some people flourish? • Who defines the religion? Why? Whose interests are being served by a particular religious interpretation? • What counter-voices are there within the community about religion and required religious practices?

Tools: Education/Capacity Building • Locate and strengthen those who practice forms of religious interpretations that are more ‘progressive’ • Educating the religious about the wide variety of interpretations of their religious traditions and practices within their own religion. So many people are not aware or educated about the different historical interpretations of their religion. • Equip women and girls to participate in the shaping of their communities

Conclusion: • Need for more research about the specific religious attitudes on the ground that prevent women from accessing all reproductive and sexual health services and alternative strands. • Reshaping religious notions of community, family, honour and modesty that respect the physical integrity of girls and women (these are not bad values in and of themselves, but their current outworking has been harmful)

A Religious-Oriented Approach to Addressing FGM/C Among the Somali Community Living in Kenya Maryam Sheikh Abdi IbrahimLethomeAsmani For a USAID, Population Council Frontiers in Reproductive Health Presentation

Situation in North Eastern Province (NEP) • High mortality • Infant mortality: 91/1,000 • Maternal mortality: 1,000 – 1,300 per 100,000 live births • Poor access and use of safe motherhood services: • 8% deliver in health facilities (41% countrywide) • Universal practice of FGM/C • Infibulation / type III most commonly practised

Reasons for the practice of FGM/C: Findings from a baseline study • Two major reasons given: • It is an Islamic religious requirement (63%) • It is a Somali custom and tradition (76%) • Other reasons given: • it prevents immorality (17%); • it limits a woman’s sexual desire (15%); • it ensures a woman’s cleanliness (12%); • it preserves virginity (8%)

Two-pronged response developed Strengthen health system capacity to manage complications • Develop / offer training to: • Strengthen ANC, delivery and postpartum care • Manage health complications associated with FGM/C • Encourage health staff to advocate against practice Initiate community-based activities to encourage abandonment of FGM/C • Diagnostic study to understand practice • Engagement with religious leaders • Community mobilization with range of social groups

Initiating community-based activities to encourage abandonment • Removing religious support would greatly reduce the practice: • “One who is not circumcised is not a Muslim, and even her parents are seen as not being in the religion, that is how we see it as Somalis”, (Married men, Wajir, 2005) • “People before us like Prophet Adam (PBUH) and Eve have been doing it, so whether good or bad we will continue with it” (Married women, Wajir, 2005)

Addressing religious aspect seen as most critical and likely to influence change • Health and rights based arguments on their own are unlikely to be influential: • “…there is nobody who does not get a tear, only the severity matters…No, it is not because of circumcision, it is God’s will and it can happen to any one” (Circumcisers, Wajir, 2005).

Addressing religious aspect seen as most critical and likely to influence change • “ We will follow our religion…we will not stop sunnah but anything more than what is mentioned in the Quran we can stop. We are ready to discuss with sheikhs but we will not stop because the radio or the government has said…we are governed by our religion and we don’t care about other laws” (Married men, Wajir, 2005)

Strategy to engage with religious scholars • Identify influential and knowledgeable religious scholars and leaders to form team of resource persons; mainly non-Somali to avoid any cultural prejudice • Hold discussions for 10-15 Wajir-based scholars for objectivity

Strategy to engage with religious scholars • Critically examine basis for FGM/C in Islam: Is it an Islamic practice? • Develop arguments from Islamic teachings that are contradicted by the practice in order to question rationale for the practice • Compile materials that discuss Islamic position on FGM/C

Misconceptions about Islamic guidance and FGM/C • That it was one of the practices of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) “Peace Be Upon Him” • That it is supported by the traditions of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) - hence a sunnah • It ensures chastity by controlling the sexual desires of women (contains the burning fire in the women…ghilma) • Arguments based on the views of different schools of thought

When is an act considered Islamic? • A practice or an act can only be referred to as Islamic if based on evidence from the following sources: • Quran –the word of God • Sunnah – practice of the Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) • Ijma – consensus by scholars • Qiyas – making a comparison (for example, between FGM/C and male circumcision)

Counter arguments: FGM/C is not an Islamic practice • The verse (Quran: 4: 125)is only applicable to male circumcision • Nothing in the sunnah • No authentic or applicable ahadith • Nothing from the deeds of the Prophet

Counter arguments: FGM/C is not an Islamic practice • There is no consensus (ijma) on FGM/C from scholars • Qiyas (analogy) is not applicable between female and male: • male circumcision is a religious requirement • Difference in what is cut: in males it is the foreskin, in females it is a functional organ

Positive messages from Islam • Islam emphasizes the importance of taking expert advice e.g. from medical doctors (Quran: 16: 43) • Cutting healthy organs and causing any physical harm is unlawful (Quran: 2: 195). • Allah condemns those who change His creation (Quran: 4: 119) • Women have a right to a healthy body and enjoyment of matrimonial sexual relations

Positive messages from Islam • Islam lays emphasis on good upbringing (tarbiya) and moral teachings to ensure chastity • Nobody should be punished for fear that they could potentially indulge in unlawful sex

Positive messages from Islam • Nothing should be done to the body that would prevent purity for the purposes of worship (Infibulation makes genital hygiene impossible) • Islam condemns harmful cultural practices e.g. female infanticide (Quran: 81: 8-9) • One should not succumb to community pressure at the expense of disobeying Allah • Mubaah (allowed) acts are prohibited if they result in harm

Positive messages from Islam • A harm cannot be too old (old practices cannot be justified if they are harmful) • Trust in God does not mean you do nothing; entails doing what is humanly possible (Quran: 13: 11) • Every Muslim, and especially those in positions of authority, have an obligation to correct bad practices (Quran: 3: 110)

Un-answered questions by proponents of FGM/C • What exactly is the extent of the so-called sunnah circumcision? • What is the status of a Muslim who does not practice FGM/C? • Has FGM/C, achieved the ‘alleged’ benefit, i.e. control of women’s sexual desires?

Challenges to working with the religious scholars • Scholars reluctant to publicly declare FGM/C non-Islamic through fear of losing credibility and respect • Fear of an Un-Islamic agenda underlying FGM/C activities • FGM/C not considered a priority problem

Challenges to working with the religious scholars • Poor understanding of Arabic terms leads to gross misinterpretations of religious texts • Scholars’ insistence on gradual shift from pharaonic to sunnah to no cut • Negative attitude toward discussing FGM/C because seen as a woman’s issue

Lessons learned • FGM/C is deeply rooted and its abandonment requires sustained efforts • The practice is wrongly perceived to be an Islamic requirement • Many scholars are convinced that FGM/C has no basis in Islam, but are unable to go public due to community pressure

Lessons learned • There is consensus that type III is un-Islamic, but support of the so-called ‘sunnah circumcision’ exists • There is no agreed definition of the ‘sunnah circumcision’ • It is dangerous to refer to the practice as mubaah; proponents can use this as an Islamic justification for its continuation • Scholars blame women and vice versa

‘Piercing the Veil’