The Shoreditch Sisters WI, London is running an ongoing creative campaign against FGM, a widespread practice in parts of Africa, the Middle East and amongst immigrant groups in the West. The aim of the ‘Embroideries’ project is to create enough vulva patches to make a giant quilt, which will be displayed at Coco de Mer’s erotic boutique in Covent Garden.
It’s a timely campaign in light of statistics released by the Royal College of Obsetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) this week (24/08/11), which show that labiaplasty (cosmetic surgery to 'tidy up' the genitals for non-medical reasons) is on the increase amongst women in the UK.
Tara Scott, Campaigns Officer at the Shoreditch Sisters told Radio 4 Woman’s Hour that she was inspired to do something after reading the graphic novel ‘Embroideries’ by Marjane Satrapi. The word ‘embroidery’ is used flippantly in the book to describe female genital mutilation. Tara runs an ethical fashion business and wanted to use her creative skills to make something beautiful and stimulate debate around the issue.
How to Get Involved
‘The launch party date [for Embroideries] has been moved to 7th October,’ says Tara. ‘The quilt will be hanging in the window [at Coco de Mer’s Covent Garden boutique] for the week of the event. Women and men are still welcome to contribute. We will be accepting contributions up until 15th September, but the campaign is continuous and any contributions missing that date will still be involved in future publicity stunts and the continuing campaign’.
Vulva patches can be in any material or form you like – abstract or accurate – and 8x8” in size. The Embroideries Campaign website has some photo examples so you can see the work in progress. Send a cover sheet with your contact details, how you found out about the campaign and why you’d like to be part of it.
What is FGM?
The World Health Organisation defines FGM as: ‘All procedures involving partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.’ It is categorised into four types, according to the type of excision (ranging from clitoral hood to stitching and narrowing of the labia and vagina).
Forward UK (Foundation for Women’s Health Research & Development) estimates that 138 million African women have experienced FGM around the world and over 2 million girls are at risk each year. It is also more prevalent than we realise amongst immigrant groups in the West. It’s thought that the practice dates back to ancient Egypt and nowadays is mostly carried out on younger girls for social, cultural and religious reasons. It’s difficult for Westerners to understand the cultural norms that underpin FGM and Forward stress that it is not an act of hate by parents. In most cases, they believe it to be in their child’s best interest. For some cultures it’s a rite of passage that marks the transition to womanhood and marriage.
Tools used to carry out the practice are crude (knives, scissors, glass) and the elderly women who carry it out are often not medically trained. It can cause serious complications such as infections, haemorrhage, pregnancy and childbirth issues, reproductive system damage, ongoing sexual and psychological problems, and death (common amongst small children). The ethical issues are that girls have no say in the procedure and it is normalising pain as something to be endured for acceptance within the community.
Surveys have been carried out amongst immigrant groups in the UK to try and determine the scale of the problem here, however, although it’s illegal in the UK this law only applies to British citizens so it’s difficult to police foreign nationals. Many governments have not outlawed the practice and so it continues. Creative campaigns such as Embroideries and the Great Wall of Vagina play a part in raising awareness, deepening our understanding of the issue and encouraging activism, as do the documentaries: The Cutting Tradition and Black Bag: Cutting the Rose.
Resources
The charities listed below are campaigning to put a stop to FGM and welcome interaction at a grass roots level.
Charities: Forward UK
The Orchid Project
Daughters of Eve
Media: BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour: The Shoreditch Sisters (18/07/11)
The Cutting Tradition (2009)
Black Bag: Cutting the Rose (Channel 4, 1997)
‘The unspeakable practice of female circumcision that is destroying young women’s lives in Britain’, by David Jones and Jo-Ann Goodwin, Daily Mail (published 3rd January 2008).
Send your vulva patches to:
Embroideries
5a Grandsen Avenue
London
E8 3QA
Nicci Talbot - Nicci Talbot is a journalist and author specialising in sex, health & wellbeing. She edits Rude Magazine, an online resource for better ...
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