Djembe & Mande Music Page/African Links (last revision 03/07/99) African Women [ToC] [LINKS INDEX] "An hour for God and an hour for the heart:  Islam, gender and female entertainment in Egypt" by  Karin van Nieuwkerk     http://gotan.cirfid.unibo.it/m&a/index/number3/nieuwkerk/karin_0.htm Female Genital Mutilation Network and Message Board     http://www.fgm.org/ "Female circumcision is widely practiced in many countries. An estimated 100 million women have been subjected to different forms of genital mutilation across Africa and in areas of western and southern Asia, and 2 million women undergo the procedure annually. Female genital mutilation is still practiced in at least 26 of 43 African countries." Femmes-afrique-info     http://www.enda.sn/synfev/fainfo.htm An electronic discussion list, in French, sponsored by enda-synfev (Environnement et Developpement du Tiers-Monde, Synergie Genre et Developpement, Dakar, Senegal) concerning the rights and health of Francophone African women.  In Memory of the Sexually Mutilated Child  http://www.SexuallyMutilatedChild.org/ Sexual mutilation doesn't happen  in Africa alone. Before we point our fingers at the cruel practice in Africa, we should look at our "Western, civilized countries". Be aware, that these sites are not easy to look at and to read through, but it is the reality in the US. New Rite Is Alternative To Female Circumcision by Dr. Cesar Chelala (International Medical Consultant) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/09/16/ED19296.DTL  "A NEW APPROACH to dealing with female genital mutilation, increasinglypracticed in rural communities in Kenya and Uganda, offers hope for eliminating a practice that has caused women around the world considerable suffering. The Kenya approach consists of an alternative rite, known as 'ntanira na mugambo' or 'circumcision through words'. It includes a week-long program of counseling, training and informing young women, capped by a day designated as the 'coming of age day, 'when members of the community join for a celebration with music, dances and feasting. Since it was initiated in August 1996, approximately 300 women have  undergone this rite.  Re-invoking the Griotte tradition as a feminist textual strategy       by Jayne O. Ifekwunigwe  Women's Human Rights In Africa: Beyond the Debate Over the Universality or Relativity Of Human Rights.© by Diana J. Fox     http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v2/v2i3a2.htm An article form the most recent "African studies quarterly"  ASQ mainpage: http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/index.htm From the introduction by  Paul J. Magnarella: "In her provocative contribution, Diana Fox, an anthropologist at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, addresses women's rights issues within the African context. She argues that efforts to make human rights programs sympathetic to women's concerns, such as violence and gender discrimination, inevitably present a challenge to the traditional view that rights are rooted in a specific cultural context." [ToC][ToP] [LINKS INDEX]