03 December 2018, 22:01
Cases of female circumcision in Caucasus provoke reproaches upon Ministry of Health
There is no separate law in Russia against girls' circumcision; and such mutilations should be prohibited by the order of the Ministry of Public Health (MPH), experts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the words of Anna Kuznetsova, the children's ombudsperson, that girls' circumcision (clitorectomy) is a "medical issue" caused outrage among social network users, who insist that these mutilating surgeries are unacceptable.
Circumcision of girls should be prohibited by a special order of the Russian MPH, says Svetlana Anokhina, a Dagestani journalist.
"This is a very serious intervention; the surgery harms the girls' health," Svetlana Anokhina told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
A broad discussion of the problem of female circumcision in Dagestan began in August 2016 after the publication of the results of the study conducted by the "Legal Initiative". Human rights defenders then noted that female genital mutilation is carried out with the support of the clergy and is considered a religious obligation by the population. According to a preliminary assessment of the authors of the study, tens of thousands of women in Dagestan had been exposed to such surgeries.
According to Ms Anokhina, many people do not know that such a surgery is a "radical intervention." "I read people's responses; in many respects they do not understand the seriousness of this problem. There is no understanding that it is difficult for girls to live on with the knowledge that they have been mutilated," she has explained.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 3, 2018 at 04:08 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Gor Aleksanyan Source: CK correspondent
