Women’s eNews Examines Campaign Against FGM In Sudan

Women’s eNews reports on a campaign to end the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Sudan. Called “Saleema,” which “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, … with extensive media outreach, opening a new dialogue about this once-taboo issue in Sudan,” the news service writes. “Still, activists here criticized the campaign as being presented in such a way as to appease conservatives and to avoid clashes,” the news service adds, noting “[t]he 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 news service continues, “Talking to women in different communities made the [Babiker Badri Scientific Association for Women’s Studies, based at Ahfad University for Women in Omdurman,] which is involved in the Saleema campaign, begin to realize they needed a new approach and that they had to make the campaign inclusive,” adding, “This approach has helped shape the Saleema campaign, which has only recently made its presence more known, though it was launched in 2008” (Abbas, 8/19).

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