This barbaric procedure on women must stop NOW

Evidence Shows That Illegal Female Genital Cutting Is a Growing Phenomenon in US

Up to 200,000 American girls and women are at risk, many of them sent abroad to undergo the procedure.

Photo Credit: Flickr (cc)

June 21, 2013  |  

Female genital cutting (FGC), also known as female genital mutilation (FGM) and female circumcision, is an increasing international concern to human rights activists and feminists across the globe. An estimated 140 million girls have been subjected to the practice worldwide and it is still prevalent in at least 28 countries according to the World Health Organization Progress Report in 2011.

In Western culture, mere mention of FGM sends feminist activists up in arms, generating intense negative feelings and evoking discussion about sexism, brutality and gender-based violence. However, while FGM is mostly practiced in African and Middle Eastern countries and classified as an “off-shore problem,” many Americans are unaware of the cultural complexities embedded in the custom and the fact that it is happening right under our noses.
According to a report by the non-profit group Sanctuary for Families, the practice of FGC is on the rise in the United States. The study claims that up to 200,000 American girls and women are at risk of FGM whether at home or through what is known as "vacation cutting," in which young women in the U.S. are sent abroad to undergo the ritual.
"People in the United States think that FGM only happens to people outside of the United States, but in all actuality, people here all over the country have been through FGM. Kids that were born in this country are taken back home every summer and undergo this procedure," a 23-year-old woman from Gambia stated in the report.
The document claims that traditional practitioners are often secretly brought in from overseas to carry out the ritual on U.S. soil, where an entire group of girls may be cut in an afternoon.
Such occurrences, according to Claudia De Palma of Sanctuary for Families, are the result of family pressure from the ancestral home as well as from community and regional leaders who wish to preserve the practice for generations that are now growing up in the United States.
“We started to see that once it became illegal to conduct FGM in the United States in 1996, more and more families started sending children back home over school vacation, and it would happen there. Sometimes it was the intention of the trip to meet with grandparents—a coming of age—and sometimes it was not intended that it was going to happen, but once the girl arrived, it became clear that this was what the larger community had in mind,” she told AlterNet.
http://www.alternet.org/gender/evidence-shows-illegal-female-genital-cutting-growing-phenomenon-us?akid=10609.35630.Apz1kO&rd=1&src=newsletter858873&t=5

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Rita Chahal new Executive Director of Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council

June 3, 2013

Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council (MIIC) board chair Rev Peter Flynn is pleased to announce that Rita Chahal has been appointed Executive Director of MIIC / Welcome Place.

With recent policy and funding changes to Canada's commitment to immigrants and refugees at the Provincial and Federal levels, Flynn said that “MIIC is delighted to take advantage of Rita’s combined not-for-profit and business leadership experience to help us reach the next level of MIIC’s growth and sustainability”.

Prior to her current appointment and for the past four and a half years, Rita has served in the elite position as General Manager of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce where she worked closely with the business community across Manitoba. Earlier in her career, Rita was the Executive Director of the Women in Media Foundation and Executive Director of Employment Projects of Winnipeg, where she got first hand understanding and insight into the issues, opportunities and challenges that refugees and new immigrants face when they arrive in Manitoba. Her community service includes taking a leadership position on a number of boards and advisory committees over her career. She currently serves on the board of a crown corporation, Manitoba Centennial Centre Corporation.

Very excited about her new role, Rita said that "I am humbled and privileged to be part of one of the most effective and influential Canadian agencies that help refugees arriving in Manitoba. And, I am honored to be a part of the Canadian and global commitment to serve those who have been oppressed and lost all hope in the face of war and political unrest"

MIIC/Welcome Place is a federally funded not for profit organization based in Winnipeg. MIIC promotes and supports the protection and resettlement of refugees from many countries and offers a range of services that welcome and assist refugee newcomers in their settlement and integration into Canadian society. MIIC strives to enable independence and full participation of these newcomers in our community. Refugee newcomers contribute to the strength of our community, our economy, and our diversity. MIIC has a well established history and success in serving refugees in Manitoba.

For more information about MIIC's programs and services please contact Rita or Ms Emily Shane at 204 977 1000. Rita can be reached directly by email at ritac@miic.ca or by phone at 204 285 3384.