DEARBORN — Female genital mutilation (FGM) is often associated with Muslim majority countries, but women’s rights activists say there is a prevalence of the abusive practice in the United States.

A Dearborn billboard that is part of a national campaign to shine a light on the practice quotes President Obama saying “Female Genital Mutilation…needs to be eliminated.”

The national campaign is sponsored by the documentary film “Honor Diaries”and officially launched Dec. 12. Each sign will be up for one month. 

“Honor Diaries”features an all-star cast of female human rights activists speaking out against the abusive practices of FGM and forced marriages. Freedom of movement and the right to education are some of the other topics discussed in the film. 

FGM has been going on for centuries 

According to the World Health Organization, more than 125 million girls and women alive today have been cut in the 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where FGM practices are concentrated. 

Female genital mutilation comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.

FGM is mostly carried out on young girls sometime between infancy and age 15.

Procedures can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating; and later cysts, infections and infertility, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.

Dearborn is home to one of the largest Muslim communities in the United States, but that is not why the billboard was put up here according to those behind the national campaign. They say the billboard was put up in Dearborn because it is a college town. 

The city is home to the University of Michigan-Dearborn (UM-D) and Henry Ford College.

“We tried to choose cities that had large student communities,”said Raheel Raza, president of The Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow and star of “Honor Diaries.””Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders and policy makers. If we want true gender equality, the issue must resonate in the consciousness of our youth and we must bring true awareness to the community.”

The screening of “Honor Diaries”was canceled at UM-D this year because of the controversy surrounding the film. 

The billboards are also expected to appear in Boston, Chicago, Atlanta and Washington D.C.

Activists call “Honor Diaries”

Islamophobic 

The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) called the film “Islamophobic.” Women in the film appear to be uncertain about whether to blame culture or religion for abusive practices against women. In the film one participant asks, “is this Islam? If not, what are we doing to change it? And if there is anything within our faith that allows that men feel empowered to do that, how are we fighting that?”

In an interview with Al Jazeera, CAIR Spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said producers of the film are “seeking to hijack a legitimate issue to promote its anti-Muslim agenda.

“I’ve compared it to the KKK producing a documentary about the American Jewish community and then nobody being able to question the agenda of its producers,”he added.

The film was funded by the Clarion Project, a group responsible for other controversial films, including “Third Jihad: Radical Islam’s Vision for America”and “Obsession.”The Clarion Project is headed by Raphael Shore, a Canadian rabbi. “Honor Diaries”also features Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the film’s executive producer, who is a major critic of Islam. Raza is also known for having controversial views about Islam. 

She is very passionate about women’s rights issues. The plight and treatment of women in her homeland has a lot to do with that.

“I am from Pakistan, the land of Malala Yousafzai, where a girl can be shot in the face for wanting an education,”Raza said. “I have been an activist for human rights almost my entire adult life and I feel privileged to live in a country where I have a voice and freedom to express my views so I want to be a voice for the voiceless. I mentor young girls who are facing many violations of their human rights, so I am eager to help them. My mandate is to expose, educate, empower and eradicate the problems facing women all over the world, but especially in Muslim majority societies.” 

She congratulated President Obama on taking a strong stance against FGM. 

“The president is correct,”said Raza. “Culture is no excuse for ‘barbaric’ abuse of girls and women. As a woman, and as a Muslim, I agree with President Obama when he said that ‘one of the single-best measures of whether a country succeeds or not is how it treats its women.’ That is why I support the president in launching the first-ever national study into the prevalence of Female Genital Mutilation in America.”

In 1997, research conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that at least 150,000 to 200,000 girls in the U.S. were at risk of being subjected to FGM. In a report released last year by the non-profit Sanctuary for Families, a group that works with domestic abuse victims, the Sanctuary concluded that FGM is on the rise in the United States. It found that the number of girls and women at risk for FGM in the U.S. increased by 35 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to an analysis from the 2000 U.S. Census.

 “These are only the reported statistics,”Raza said. “We don’t know how many go unreported. When we had a screening of ‘Honor Diaries’ in DC, we met Jaha Dukureh who lives in Atlanta and was a victim of FGM and a forced marriage. Inspired by the women of HD, she started a campaign and raised almost one million signatures for the elimination of FGM in the USA.”

A lot of progress has been made over the years in terms of raising awareness of female genital mutilation, but how much more time is needed before female genital mutilation and child marriages become a part of history in many Muslim majority countries? 

Raza said the A.H.A. Foundation, a non-profit organization established by Ali for the defense of women’s rights, is working on bringing about legislation that will make FGM a criminal offense. 

She also said that this year Chantal Compaoré, the first lady of Burkino Faso and coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban FGM Worldwide, started a campaign to eliminate FGM; and that British Prime Minister David Cameron hosted a Girl Summit in the UK this past June. Cameron spoke with great conviction about the changes made in the UK legal, Justice and Educational systems to tackle FGM and Child/Forced Marriage. He said it’s now mandatory in UK for teachers and doctors to report signs of FGM or forced/child marriages. Parents will be convicted. At the time he spoke, 21 countries had signed up with the Girl charter as well as 230 organizations to eliminate FGM within one generation.

According to Raza, “Honor Diaries”was partly instrumental in getting a study started on FGM. Today there is great awareness and many groups are pushing for change.

“Westerners can stop being politically correct and speak about the issue,” she said.