The view that we must respect cultural traditions is a
welcome change from the past, when colonial powers ridiculed native customs and
often sought to eradicate them. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to ask whether
there is a limit to tolerance of a ritual that has been designated a “harmful
traditional practice” by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights, the United Nations Population Fund, and the recently created
agency, UN Women. The article “Seven Things To Know About Female Genital
Surgeries in Africa,” by the Public Policy Advisory Network on Female Genital
Surgeries in Africa, contends that a need
exists for more balanced critical thinking and open debate about what the
authors choose to call “female genital surgery.” No one can reasonably quarrel
with the call for accurate information in descriptions of the methods and
consequences of female genital cutting. The network’s own discussion of the
facts is highly questionable, however.
The view that we must respect cultural traditions is a
welcome change from the past, when colonial powers ridiculed native customs and
often sought to eradicate them. Nevertheless, it is reasonable to ask whether
there is a limit to tolerance of a ritual that has been designated a “harmful
traditional practice” by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights, the United Nations Population Fund, and the recently created
agency, UN Women. The article “Seven Things To Know About Female Genital
Surgeries in Africa,” by the Public Policy Advisory Network on Female Genital
Surgeries in Africa, contends that a need
exists for more balanced critical thinking and open debate about what the
authors choose to call “female genital surgery.” No one can reasonably quarrel
with the call for accurate information in descriptions of the methods and
consequences of female genital cutting. The network’s own discussion of the
facts is highly questionable, however.