Project Detail: Taken

Contest:

LuganoPhotoDays 2015 Pro



Brand:

LuganoPhotoDays



Author:

Meeri Koutaniemi

Status:
Finalist

 

Project Info

Taken

The World Health Organization estimates that there are 100 to 140 million women in the world with mutilated genital organs. FGM, Female genital mutilation, is a tradition practiced worldwide in 29 countries, primarily in Africa.

Circumcising girls has been illegal in Kenya since 2001, but among some tribes, such as the Masai people, it is still a valued tradition. Isina and Nasirian are 14-year-old sisters in a remote Masai village in Kenya. They are circumcised for marriage in the following year.

With FGM, religion intertwines with tradition and myths. The practise of FGM predates both Christianity and Islam. Qur’an does not explicitly teach the tradition. FGM is deeply rooted in a belief that female sexuality is a threat to the community and family. Woman’s sexual organs are considered impure and mutilating is believed to purify them. A cut woman is supposedly less likely to be unfaithful to her husband.

Female genital cutting has been widely judged for being a serious violation against human rights. It reflects deep-rooted inequality between genders. The pain of the operation is only a fraction of the harm. FGM is an extreme form of control for women's sexual freedom and independence.

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