Amnesty Urges RI to Ban Genital Mutilation

In November 2010, the Health Ministry issued a regulation that legitimizes the practice of female genital mutilation.

Photo: f-paper.com

(JAKARTA, Indonesia) - To mark International Women’s Day on Thursday, human rights watchdog Amnesty International called on the Indonesian government to repeal a 2010 government regulation permitting “female circumcision”.

The London-based organization also suggested that authorities help eliminate the practice by enacting specific legislation with appropriate penalties prohibiting all forms of female genital mutilation.

“We echo calls from over 130 national, regional and international organizations in 2011 to end the practice of female genital mutilation in Indonesia,” Josef Roy Benedict, Amnesty International Secretariat’s campaigner for Indonesia & Timor-Leste, said in a press release on Thursday.

In November 2010, the Health Ministry issued a regulation that legitimizes the practice of female genital mutilation and authorizes certain medical professionals, such as doctors, midwives and nurses, to perform it.

In a report by the pre-session working group in last November, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee described the government regulation on “female circumcision” as a “setback in combating violence against women”.

The committee asked the Indonesian government to explain the steps taken, to withdraw the regulation and to eliminate the re-emerging practice of female genital mutilation in Indonesia.

Amnesty International pointed out that such practices inflict pain and suffering on women and girls, and “hence violates the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment.”

The physical effects of female genital mutilation can include pain, shock, haemorrhage, damage to the organs surrounding the clitoris and labia, and infection, Amnesty International said.

Special thanks to The Jakarta Post

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/03/08/amnesty-urges-ri-ban-genital-mutilation.html