Journalists see problem in silencing female circumcision in Caucasus

The problem of female genital mutilations is hushed up in the Caucasus to a greater extent than in other regions of the world. No criminal punishment will eradicate the problem until a legal background is formed that will allow women to feel safe, the authors of the project on female circumcision for the "AfishaDaily" believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a Dagestani woman only at the age of 42 learned that she had been circumcised in childhood. According to her story, intercourse was always painful for her, and childbirth was torturous. Genital mutilation is wildness, Instagram users have pointed out.

There is a false stereotype that female genital mutilations are practised exclusively in Africa and Asia – in tribal or Muslim communities, the journalist, Ekaterina Bodyagina, has noted, adding that in Russia, this topic is taboo not only in public space, but in the interpersonal communication.

The project author has noted that it was not easy to find a heroine in Northern Caucasus also because only a few human rights defenders are involved in this topic. An article in the Criminal Code banning female genital mutilations would be an important and valuable step, she believes.

The Dagestani women who have survived mutilations believe that it is necessary to fight the practice with the help of educational work and criminal punishment, the "Kavkaz.Realii" writes.

A 32-year-old Makhachkala woman said that it happened to her when she was eight years old, when she lived in a Georgian village. "They put me in front of a woman and held me. I remember my embarrassment, shame, and how this woman cut something off with scissors," she said.