bestcurrentnews 2024 Ramadan Prayer

A Global Look at FGM

In observance of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024, UNICEF released a report entitled Female Genital Mutilation: A Global Concern. The report provides new global statistics on the practice. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) refers to the practice of partially or totally removing the external female genitalia for non-medical reasons.

Compared to data from 2016, there is a 15% increase in the number of girls and women who have undergone the procedure. This means the total number of girls and women worldwide affected by FGM is now over 230 million, 30 million more than in 2016.

The majority of FGM victims are in Africa, with over 144 million cases, followed by over 80 million in Asia and over 6 million in the Middle East. The type of FGM varies, but most girls experience cutting with the removal of flesh. The most severe form of FGM is a procedure in which the genital area is sown closed. Each year, over half a million girls experience this extreme form of FGM, primarily in the nations of Sudan and Somalia. 

In most nations, the procedure is frequently performed without anesthesia by people without medical training; however, Sudan and Egypt are the exceptions. In those nations, medical workers (doctors, nurses, and midwives) perform the majority of procedures. 

Although FGM predates Islam and is practiced by people from different religious backgrounds, some Islamic scholars support and encourage FGM. Many Muslims believe that the failure to perform the procedure on their daughters will bring shame to the family. 

PRAYER

Many of us live in nations where this would never be practiced and recognize it as a   violent and invasive practice in a young girl’s life, causing permanent damage and ruining any future intimate enjoyment in marriage. The cultures have a spiritual stronghold where this is approved and practiced. Based upon II Corinthians 10:4-5, God has declared that “our weapons in God are mighty for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought (of those who are blinded) into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Take a moment to pray for the perpetrators, using the authority Christ has given us! Your prayers will make a difference in the lives of these young girls and women.

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Repeal of FGM Ban in Gambia

The West African nation of Gambia may be the first nation to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation or FGM in a vote taking place next Monday, March 25. The bill is reportedly backed by religious conservatives in the majority Muslim nation, stating that “it seeks to uphold religious purity and safeguard cultural norms and values.” Gambia’s top Islamic group has called the practice “one of the virtues of Islam.”

The procedure often occurs in honor-based cultures. The mutilation of a woman’s genitalia is intended to maintain family honor by preserving a woman’s virginity until marriage. The intended result is to reduce her sexual drive to ensure she will not engage in premarital or extramarital sexual behavior. It can, however, cause short-term problems, including shock, bleeding, infection, and injury to nearby tissue immediately following the procedure, and can also have long-term effects such as recurrent bladder and urinary tract infections, infertility, and complications during intercourse and childbirth.

The United Nations estimates that more than half of women ages 15 to 49 in the Gambia have undergone the procedure, and even though the current law passed in 2015 banned the practice, only two cases have been prosecuted.

PRAYER

Gambia is a nation that only has a small representative of women (8.6%) in their National Assembly; the vast majority are men. The women have no say in the repeal of this law that institutes FGM again, has no health benefits, and can lead to serious, long-term complications and even death. 

  • Pray the hearts of the Islamic men will be softened to stop this repeal of the ban.
  • Ask God to intervene on behalf of the women to protect them from this violent act. 
  • Intercede, praying that the revelation of Jesus Christ as Lord will be revealed across the nation.