Sudan's Anti-FGM Campaign Avoids Using the Term
By Reem Abbas WeNews correspondent
Monday, August 19, 2013
KHARTOUM, Sudan (WOMENSENEWS)--In 2007 U.N. organizations, civil society groups and other institutions working to stop female genital mutilation got together and brainstormed a campaign to end the practice in Sudan. The result was Saleema, a word that translates to complete, to signify that a girl should remain the way she was born. The campaign has been ramping up recently in its fight against FGM, as the practice is called (it's also referred to as female genital cutting), with extensive media outreach, opening a new dialogue about this once-taboo issue in Sudan. Still, activists here criticized the campaign as being presented in such a way as to appease conservatives and to avoid clashes.
"The name, Saleema, is a vague name in itself in my opinion and this reflects that the campaign is trying to avoid clashes with the extremists who do not want to see FGM eradicated," said Sana Mekkawi, who works at Salmmah Women's Resource Center in Khartoum. The billboards covering the streets of Khartoum, for example, show celebrities and respected individuals and have the slogan "She is born Saleema, let her grow Saleema," but they do not mention FGM.
"The concept is straightforward, saying no to FGM, but the slogan 'Let every girl born Saleema grow Saleema' does not get this message across," Samah Osman told Women's eNews, adding that the campaign should have referred to FGM in the advertisement. Osman, a recent chemical engineering graduate, is one of many youth who took to Twitter to express their opinions on the campaign as part of a heated day-long discussion that took place on the social media outlet on July 23, during the holy month of Ramadan, when the television advertisements of the campaign are at their peak.
Muzan Al-Neel, a blogger and social media activist, told Women's eNews that when she saw the television advertisement, she had to ask about it. "When I asked about it and was told it was about circumcision then it vaguely made sense to me," said Al-Neel, adding that the actors in the advertisement were irrelevant to the ad's message. FGM is sometimes called female circumcision.
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