BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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DO THEY HEAR YOU WHEN YOU CRY?
By Fauziya Kassindja & Layli Miller
Bashir |
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Reviewed by Essam Farag
"You can kill me as soon as you like, but cannot stop the emancipation of women" - Tahirih (martyred for her beliefs in 1852)
" FGM
is a violation of human rights when
young girls are brutalized by the
painful and degrading practice of genital mutilation."
- Hillary Clinton (Sept. 1995), Beijing, China
Having written a couple university papers on the issue of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), I was interested in learning more about this traumatizing operation and its practice in different areas of the world. Sifting through the books in the public library shelves, this title caught my attention and interest immediately. Although I was more interested in finding statistical information, this narrative, based on a true story, I believe would be of vital importance to a better understanding of this cultural practice (also referred to as female circumcision).
This non-fiction book looks into a generations'-old cultural practice, common mainly in Africa, that involves the deliberate removal of some or all of the female external genitalia. The surgical operation often takes place in unsanitary conditions to girls between the ages of 8 and 14. Discussing this practice has been taboo for hundreds of years, until the issue took center stage on the discussion tables during the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in September 1994. This was a result of CNN's airing of an Egyptian girl being circumcised worldwide on the first day of the conference.
During the course of the conference, CNN reporter Christian Amanpour, convinced an Egyptian man to film the circumcision of his daughter at a barber shop. The video which was aired around the world caused an outcry and shock that put FGM in the spotlight making it impossible to ignore. The practice is thought of as one of those traditional or cultural rituals that the big conferences tend to shy away from in order to avoid offending the countries where they occur. Subsequently, the document that came out of the conference in Egypt, contained a number of passages condemning FGM as a violation of reproductive health and rights.
Although the book doesn't speak detail about the operation of FGM itself, it represents more specifically the legal issues pertaining to the practice and the debate on its identification as a violation of human rights. This aspect of FGM is tackled very clearly and interestingly throughout the book, with the focus on the true case of Fauziya Kassindja, who escaped her home in Togo at the age of 17 to avoid a forced polygamous marriage and being subjected to FGM. Fauziya writes about life in her African community in Togo with references to her cheerful, happy and secure childhood with her family. This easy-going life all comes to a halt when she gets news of her father's death in Togo, while she was attending boarding school in neighboring Ghana.
The events that followed this tragic moment in her life are very intense and outlined with specifics in her accounts: From the eviction of her mother to Benin by her aunt, the suspending of her schooling, and eventually to her forced marriage to a much older man with three other wives. As Fauziya describes in great detail - the death of her father marked the beginning of her seemingly never-ending nightmare!
Living a fairly wealthy life with her family in Togo, Fauziya enjoyed a sheltered childhood shielded by her progressive devoted Muslim father from the tribal practices of polygamy and FGM. Her father spared all her elder sisters from undergoing the traumatizing surgery, even at their time of marriage if requested by the husband. But following his death, Fauziya had lost her shield, and was going to be destined by tradition to follow the orders of aunt and uncle, who never accepted her father's liberal philosophies. And before Fauziya could even comprehend the situation following her mother's eviction, she was to be married to a man of three wives and also be circumcised as orders from her Aunt and uncle - her new guardians.
It is at this point of her story that the book takes off into a world of adventure and tribulations in the life of Fauziya After being aided by her eldest sister, Aisha, to escape from Togo she found herself in a new place even to her imagination, Germany. She luckily meets a very helpful and friendly German woman in the airport there, who accommodates for her, aids her in re-collecting her thoughts and plan her life. During this time, Fauziya decided to go to the USA where she can live with either a cousin or uncle that lived there. Taking the bold move to travel to the USA with invalid documents, Fauziya faces the most turbulent times of her life - dealing with the legal aspects of FGM, human rights violations and US asylum regulations.
As noted in the book, the issue of asylum and refugee law began attracting serious attention in the 1980's with particular focus on persecutions that are specific to women and girls, which include rape, sexual slavery, domestic violence, FGM (affected heavily by Fauziya's case), forced abortion, sterilization, and marriage. The movement to get crimes against women recognized as human rights abuses is growing. Such concerns are becoming valid grounds for seeking asylum, even if the crimes did not appear to be politically motivated. Fauziya writes about her judicial battle for her freedom, discussing how women refugees applying for asylum in the US have to show signs of a well-founded fear of persecution because of: race, religion, nationality, political opinions or membership in a particular social group - the so-called 5 grounds criteria. It is the last criteria relating that Fauziya's lawyers used to support her claim for asylum on the basis that women escaping FGM fear persecution if returned to their countries - making them part of a small "social group". The US has changed its refugee immigration system in order to include women escaping FGM. This and several other changes in asylum guidelines have taken place since Fauziya's highly publicized case. On that note, France and Canada were the first countries to recognize that escaping-FGM as grounds for asylum in 1994.
The book is full of suspense and very captivating. The sheer reality of the story adds to the emotional connection/pull that the reader experiences. The scientific and statistical researched information about the medical hazards of FGM is only one side of the coin for this issue. Fauziya's own story, "Do They Hear You When You Cry?" is the other side, representing the personal, emotional concerns regarding FGM. The story represents the extreme trauma and struggles women might be subjected to in order to escape another traumatizing subordinating practice - FGM.
For further information about FGM:
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Essam Farag is a 4th year International Development Studies student at Dalhousie University, Canada and publication manager of The Ambassadors Magazine.
If you wish to send any information or comments, email us as mail@ambassadors.net.
