Daily Times

The Girl Summit being held in London currently aims to address two very important issues directly related to the state of women in many parts of the world today and how best to deal with them. One of these issues is forced child marriage and the other is the atrocity known as female genital mutilation (FGM). An initiative of the UK government and UNICEF, the summit is being attended by prominent world leaders, activists for female rights, including our own Malala Yousafzai, and women who have undergone the horror of FGM. The summit is a step forward in the right direction it must be said, but these crimes against women have been going on for centuries and should have been addressed a lot sooner. However, better late than never. Societies that are steeped in medieval tradition and stifling conservatism are prone to the menace of FGM and child marriage. In Pakistan we see that child marriage is an issue gaining more traction with the irresponsible announcements of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) on how child marriage is perfectly legal in Islam and that the civil law of the country is against religion’s edicts. FGM is unfortunately a common practice in the rural areas of African countries where girls as young as seven can be ‘circumcised’ so that they are unable to feel sexual pleasure for the rest of their lives. This kind of extreme conservatism believes that women ought to be ‘taken care of’ either through an early marriage before they hit puberty or through the butchery called FGM. Scientific research has shown that child marriages and FGM practices are damaging for health, more often than not resulting in physical and psychological trauma and harming the female victims beyond imagination.

Countries that suffer from either (or both) of these malaises must step forward and beat them back through the full power of public opinion and legislation. It is vital that African countries and many Muslim societies raise awareness about the kind of abuse and harm these practices can result in and then, with popular consensus, pass legislation that can punish anyone found guilty of aiding and abetting the perpetuation of these archaic tribal customs. Women all over the world are being cut an unfair deal but it is especially tough for those who belong to societies still tethered to ancient traditions. We need to see more initiatives like the Girl Summit, but we also need them to transform into action and the kind of critical mass needed to change mindsets. It may take time, decades even, but it is inescapable on the touchstone of women’s and human rights. *